


The Dark

by SicTruths



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Child Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Self-Harm, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-03-01 10:14:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13292697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SicTruths/pseuds/SicTruths
Summary: After the Upside Down, Steve thinks that he keeps seeing glimpses of it all around him. After the night at the Byers house, Billy just needs to get out of his house. Neither boy ever thought that a drunk ride home would change how they viewed the world and each other.





	1. Steve - The Party

**Author's Note:**

> So, I really like this paring and I decided that I wanted to write something about them. This is my first time writing a story like this and for this fandom, so I hope it turns out alright. There may also be triggers for some people, so please be aware of that.

Steve almost immediately regretted coming to the party. There were too many bodies pressed together, creating a furnace out of the living room, and the stench of beer and sweat hung in the air. Almost as soon as he had one foot over the threshold, a red cup full of some sort of concoction that someone made was pressed into his hand. Steve looked down at it skeptically, but decided  _what the hell_ and took a rather large gulp from it. Whatever was in the cup was almost sickly sweet at first taste, but quickly became bitter with the beer that was in it and then ended in a weird aftertaste that Steve wasn't sure if he liked or not. It was one of those drinks that one could easily get drunk on without realizing and it was just the thing that he needed now.

 Steve took another drink and moved further into the crowd. His eyes scanned the room for any sign of Nancy or Jonathan, but he couldn't see them with all of the people. They were the ones who convinced him to come today, saying that he's been too depressed or something like that lately. Steve had been very tempted to decline their offer, but something told him that he was right. After facing the demodogs and getting his face beat in by Billy, all he's been wanting to do was stay home. It was time that he got out and started acting like the old him, at least for Nancy and Jonathan's sake.

Steve quickly finished his drink and went in search of another. He needed more than one cup to calm his nervous. The container that had whatever drink he had was found in the kitchen and Steve shoved his way through the doorway to get to it. After filling the cup to almost the brim, he proceeded to down almost half of it almost immediately. The familiar buzz began in his head and his skin started to feel warm, whether it was from the alcohol or the bodies in the house, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't complaining. Steve felt his mind slow, which was a welcome change from how hyperactive it's been for the last few weeks, and he held up his hand to see that the constant shake that he's developed was gone. He was now as steady as his old self.

Moving back into the living room, Steve swung his hips as he made his way onto the dance floor. Making sure to hold his cup above his head so he didn't spill it, he found the first girl (he's seen her around school, but didn't know her name) that caught his attention and put one hand on her hip. She swung her head around to see who was behind her and a smile stretched across her face when she saw that it was Steve. It seemed to spur her on and her movements became slightly more coordinated as she grinded back against him. Steve moved his hips along with her and let his head hang back as he took another drink from his cup. It was almost like it was before and it was really fucking nice. He didn't even register when the girl he was dancing with vanished and another took her place. Someone poured something new into his empty cup and while he wasn't sure what it was, he still took a drink. He was just content with finally being able to forget.

He wasn't sure what made him open his eyes again, but he did and shifted his gaze down from the ceiling. It was like a magnet, how his eyes were drawn to the darkest corner of the room. Everything went cold, his body stopped moving as his eyes stayed on what was hiding in the corner. Steve knew it was just a trick of his brain, that it wasn't real and it wasn't able to hurt him. He's seen it all over since the Upside Down and he had thought, that maybe by some damned miracle, that he would have just one night alone while drunk to not see it, but of course the world hated him and decided to just keep fucking with him.

The Demogorgon stared back at him. It wasn't moving, it never did. It just stood still and made Steve's life a living hell. Panic so strong that not even alcohol could subdue it rose in him and he stumbled away from the crowd of dancing people. He could vaguely hear the girl who was dancing with him protest, but she was quickly distracted by another person. Steve's hand tightened around the cup that he was carrying as he pushed and shoved his way through the living room and out the back door in the kitchen. The weather was still on the colder side, so no one had ventured outside yet and Steve was left by himself. Heart racing, he crouched on the back-porch's steps, setting his drink down and pulling his knees up near his face.

He couldn't put a name to what he was feeling, other than pure panic. It was a feeling that he's felt over and over again, for weeks now, and he's accepted it as something that he would feel for possible the rest of his life. Steve ran a hand through his hair, not caring if he messed it up, and focused on taking deep breaths. The hand in his hair fisted tightly and pulled, threatening to yank out strands of hair as he attempted to keep his body from shaking. All he wanted was it to go away.

"Woah, Harrington, I almost just fucking tripped over you," someone said from behind Steve, but he payed little attention to it. The voice couldn't break through the haze that seemed to have overtaken all of Steve's senses at some point. He heard the person say something again, but this time it was only a muffle as he rocked slightly on the step, bringing his other hand to fist tightly in his hair. Tears jumped to the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them run down in face. His mind raced, the image of the Demogorgon burned in his eyes. He wasn't aware he was mumbling to himself until he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

Every nerve in Steve's body jumped to life at the same time and he was off the steps and standing feet away from his previous spot in a matter of seconds. The haze seemed to lift from him and he was able to make out who was trying to talk to him. Billy Hargrove stood on the top of the steps, right behind where Steve had been sitting, a beer in one hand and a cigarette dangling from his lips. A look of surprise was on the other teenager's face before he quickly hid it behind a teasing smirk.

"What's got you all riled up, pretty boy? Got to be something bad if you reacted like that," Billy said, swapping the cigarette for a swig of beer. Steve stayed silent as his mind processed what had just happened. He was in the middle of whatever that was and Billy saw it. Billy saw him. Billy saw Steve at his weakest and now he was going to use it against him.

"Fuck off, Hargrove," Steve finally said, wincing at how weak his voice sounded. He coughed once to clear his throat, hoping that it would help him sound less like he was on the verge of crying just a few minutes ago. Now that the adrenaline had left his body, Steve was starting to finally feel the cold and he wrapped his thin jacket tighter around his body as he waited for Billy to go back inside.

He didn't. Instead Billy dropped his now empty beer can on the porch and leaned against one of the beams, the shit eating smirk still on his face. "Hey now, where did that come from, pretty boy? I don't think I'm doing anything to deserve that kind of behavior."

"I don't have the energy to deal with you right now," Steve mumbled, mostly to himself than to Billy, but the other boy still heard it. Steve turned away from Billy and the house, opting to go around to the front to get to his car rather than try to make his way back through the crowd of people. Plus, the Demogorgon was in there. Steve stumbled as he tried to walk, silently cursing himself for not paying attention to how much he had to drink. To his surprise, Billy was right next to him, grabbing his elbow when Steve almost tripped again.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, Harrington?" Billy asked, the smirk gone from his face and the cigarette forgotten somewhere on the ground.

"To my car so I can go home and regret whatever I did tonight," Steve snapped at him, pulling his arm out of the other's grip with too much force. He turned away from Billy and continued through the gate at the side of the house, putting a hand against it for support.

"Like hell you're driving anywhere like this. Come on, I'll take you home, Harrington," Billy said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. Steve froze and looked over his shoulder at the other boy, skeptical. Billy moved to walk next to him, but didn't move to touch him again.

"Why're you being nice to me?" Steve asked, slowly starting to walk again. He made sure to move slower than before so the feeling of nausea didn't rise again. Billy looked over at him again, but didn't say anything for a minute. Instead, he pulled out another cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, lighting it before taking a long drag of it. Steve noticed that Billy purposely blew the smoke the other way, away from him, but the smell still drifted in his direction and it made the nauseated feeling even worse. He didn't know how to feel about the gesture, but he supposed that it was nice enough. It only made him wonder why Billy did it.

"I can tell you're wasted, Harrington, and even I don't like to let drunk as fuck people try to drive themselves home. The last thing that I need to hear is that you went and wrapped yourself around a tree or some shit," Billy finally answered. They were around the front of the house now, the loud music pounding and vibrating Steve's whole body. His eyesight started to blur around the edges and he quickly leaned back against the side of the house, letting the back of his head rest against the house. Billy noticed and stopped as well, keeping his distance but still close enough the reach out and grab Steve if he fell.

"I saw you drinking too, Hargrove. You shouldn't be driving either," Steve pointed out, keeping his eyes partly closed but watching Billy from below his eyelashes.

Billy watched him back, raising his eyebrow at the drunk boy. "Just because I had a beer doesn't mean I'm drunk, pretty boy. Unlike you, I can hold my alcohol pretty damn good."

He tipped his head back to take another drag of his cigarette, causing the light from the house to catch the earing that was dangling from his ear and making it sparkle in the night. Steve couldn't have told anyone why, but it seemed like something funny to him and he couldn't hold back the laughter that had bubbled up his throat. It sounded out of place, mixed with the loud music that still blasted from the house. He vaguely noticed Billy giving him a look like he had lost his mind, but it only seemed to make the situation funnier to him, in some messed up way. Steve already knew that he had lost his mind, but it just didn't seem like anyone else did and he knew that he wasn't a very good actor. He knew that he shouldn't be mad at Nancy or Jonathan, since they now have each other to focus on, and the kids were just trying to grow up. Steve knew that he shouldn't blame anyone else for his situation, but it only reminded him of just how alone he really was.

As soon as the dark thought entered his drunk mind, the laughter died almost immediately in his throat and he closed his mouth. His eyes trailed from Billy's face up to the dark skies and he watched the starts. Something clawed at his stomach, something dark and deadly. Steve could feel the rage through the drunkenness and he squeezed his eyes shut at tears again threatened to roll down his face. Without warning, Steve spun around faster than he probably should have and punched the side of the house with all his strength. Ignoring the pain that rippled up through his hand, he brought it back again and hit the wall once again. He wasn't sure how many times he hit it until a hand finally grabbed his wrist and held it in a vice grip that he couldn't escape.

"Harrington, what the actual fuck? Are you trying to fucking hurt yourself?" Billy demanded, yanking his arm back and forcing Steve to turn around. Steve knew that he managed to not cry, but he had no idea what he could have possibly even looked like. Probably crazy, but that would be just fine with him. When he didn't answer, it seemed to make Billy even more mad, because he dropped Steve's wrist and took a step closer to him. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Because let me tell you, you're really starting to piss me off."

Steve knew that Billy was easily angered, even his alcohol soaked brain could remember it. He knew that if he pushed Billy just right, he would snap and hit Steve. Steve found that he didn't care, nor did he like the numb feeling that the alcohol had given him. Feeling something reminded him of being in the tunnels, which brought his mind back to the Demogorgon that he thought he saw in the house. The nerves in his body needed to feel something and the pain in his hand was already gone.

"What are you going to do, huh Hargrove? Are you going to beat my face in like you did the night at the Byers' house?" Steve challenged. He saw the muscle in the other boy's jaw twitch, could see the anger shine in his eyes. With a flick of his eyes downwards, he noticed that Billy's hands had curled into fists.

"I'm warning you, Harrington, do not tempt me," Billy said, the teasing tone in his voice now completely gone. His voice now was low and strained, like he was trying to hold himself back from whatever he wanted to do. It only egged Steve on more to make the other teenager snap.

"I would love to see you even fucking try, Hargrove," Steve said, making sure to curl his lips up into a grin to emphasis the sentence. He knew the very moment that Billy snapped and he automatically closed his eyes in anticipation of the punch that he was positive he was going to receive. The sent of cigarette smoke still drifted towards his nose, so he knew that Billy was still leaning very close to him, but the pain that he was expecting never came. Instead, he heard Billy let out a frustrated sigh and felt him lean away from him. He cracked his eyes open and looked at Billy, who was facing away from him and running a hand through his hair.

"I have no idea what you are even planning or what you want, Harrington, but there is no way that I'm going to give it to you. You're drunk and fuck and I know that you want to go home and I know that I want to go the fuck home, so let's get a move on," Billy said, dropping the cigarette onto the ground. Steve watched him walk down the stone path that lead away from the house. The numbness was still overtaking his body, but he knew that Billy was right. If he tried to drive home, he would probably kill himself. So he grumbled to himself and slowly stumbled after Billy.

Billy had parked his Camaro a fairly good distance away and Steve had to keep stopping so he wouldn't vomit on the road. He was surprised the Billy, although he wasn't walking next to him, would still stop and watch him until he was ready to start walking again. It was hard to miss the blue car when it came into view and Billy walked to the driver side door, opened it, and slid behind the wheel. Steve stopped and leaned against the side of the car, taking a minute to make sure that he wasn't going to throw up when he sat in the car. His eyes searched the dark road, watching every corner that the street lights didn't reach to watch for anything that would move. His body was tense, like he was waiting for something to come out of the trees and grab him. The thought sent a shiver down his spine and his hand twitched for the bat that was in the trunk of his Beamer.

Something hit his hip and Steve jumped, quickly spinning around. Billy was leaning over the passenger seat, having had opened the door for Steve. "Come, get the hell in already. It's cold."

Steve quickly slid into the passenger seat, slamming the door a little too hard behind him. He had seen Billy's driving and knew that he should probably be wearing a seat belt, but the other man wasn't and Steve couldn't find it in him to care. Billy asked Steve where he lived and Steve rattled off directions to the other boy. He was expecting Billy to ask again as they were on their way to his house, but to his surprise, Billy didn't ask again and soon enough they were pulling into Steve's driveway. There were no other cars in his driveway and all the lights were off in the house.

Billy put the Camaro in park and looked over at the drunk boy. "Harrington, you need help getting into the house?"

Steve shook his head and stumbled out of the car. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks for the ride, I guess Hargrove."

Billy just grunted in response and tore out of the driveway as soon as Steve had shut his door. Steve watched the Camaro disappear and turned towards his house. The dark form loomed in front of him and everything in him wanted to leave, to go back to the party where there were people and noise, not an empty building that held ghosts. After taking a deep breath, Steve slowly walked up to the front door and fumbled for the key that they had hidden outside. When he was inside, he didn't bother to take his shoes off, instead just going up the stairs and opening the door to his room.

Steve didn't turn the light on in his room, opting to instead go straight to his bed and flop face down on top of the covers. He turned his head and looked towards his window, the one that over looked the pool below. He could feel the drowsiness from the alcohol finally begin to hit him and he closed his eyes.


	2. Billy - The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy's point of view at the party.

Since the Byers house, Billy's life has been hell.

All he remembered from that night was seeing Harrington outside of the Byers' house, with all the stupid kids in the house, including Max. He remembered beating Harrington's face to a pulp, then there was a sting and that was it. There was a vague memory of Max swinging a fucking bat full of nails too close to his dick, then everything went black. The next thing he knew, he was awake, Max was missing, his car was gone, and he knew that he would face hell from his dad.

It was hard enough getting back home that night, with no car and whatever Max injected him with still coursing through his veins. It was still early in the morning, which meant his house was dark and his father most likely wasn't awake yet, but that didn't mean anything. When Neil wakes up and sees that Max is gone, Billy knew that he would get hell because of it.

Billy had learned years ago to keep the window to his bedroom cracked for when he had to sneak back into the house without waking anyone, and he was lucky that his bedroom in the house in Hawkins was on the first floor. He opened the door just enough to climb through, wincing at the squeaking of the panels. With uncoordinated moves, Billy was surprised that he even managed to climb through the window with as much grace as he did and not fallen straight on the floor. He didn't bother to take his clothes off as he lay face up on his bed. He knew that tomorrow would be bad and he wanted to sleep as much as he could before.

 The first party that Billy finally felt up to going to was two weeks after the night at the Byers' house. It was enough time for the bruises that Neil gave him to fade enough for him to wear his open shirts again. Billy also noticed that the bruises on Harrington's face were almost faded as well. So, when Tommy told him about the party at some girl's house that was happening that Saturday, Billy immediately jumped at the chance of going. He was feeling too cooped up in his house and there were no other places around the small town to escape to. All he wanted to do was get drunk and hopefully get laid.

"Billy! Nice to see you at one of these things again, man," Tommy said, almost noticing Billy as soon as he walked into the house. Tommy stumbled over to him, already obviously a few beers in, and pushed an unopened can into his hand. Billy gladly accepted in, ignoring whatever else the idiot was trying to say to him, and quickly surveyed the room.

Most of the people were drunk already, since it was already later when Billy finally decided to show up. He watched the people dance, looking at how the girls' and boys' bodies moved. What could he say, he enjoyed it all. Pasting his predatorily smirk on his face, Billy moved through the bodies smoothly, like he was walking through water. A few people patted him on the back, acting like they were glad that he was back, but it was mostly because something interesting always seemed to happen when Billy showed up to a party. It normally meant that the party was good and worth people coming to.

 Billy easily finished his beer, dropping the can in a corner and taking another one that someone who seemed to come out of no where offered him. He quickly lost track of time after that, losing himself in the moving bodies around him. His earing grazed his neck every time he tilted his head in a certain way and he currently had one hand on the hip of the man dancing next to him and his beer in the other. It was only his third one, having been unable to escape from the bodies around him, so all he was feeling was a slight buzz.

 When Billy threw his head back for another time, trying to get his sweaty hair out of his face, was when he noticed Harrington. There were rumors going around school, saying that he was fucked up or something else that explained how differently he was acting. It was hard not to notice the changes in Harrington, even to Billy, who only knew him for such a short time. Billy could tell that Harrington was trying to hide it, could see through the fake smiles and assurance that he was fine. Billy's been where Harrington is and he knew when something was wrong. He never bothered to ask the other boy about what was going on. It was never his problem anyways.

But now, seeing Harrington laughing and looking like what he could imagine the old Steve looking, Billy couldn't help but to stare. It was almost mesmerizing, the way that Harrington moved his hips. It was almost like he was begging people to look at him. Billy could feel the front of his pants get only slightly tighter and he wasn't embarrassed to reach down and adjust himself. He took another drink from his almost still full beer as he continued to watch Harrington. The girl that he was dancing with changed again, but it didn't seem like he even noticed. He just kept his head back, his long neck on display, as he took another gulp of whatever was in the cup that he had.

Billy could tell when something changed in Harrington. He was dancing freely one minute and then completely frozen another. Billy didn't know what he was looking at, but the change happened when Steve looked away from the ceiling and then to a dark corner in the living room where the light didn't quite reach. Whatever Steve was seeing, it gave him the same reaction that Billy got when he would see Neil angry at something. It was the look of terror. So, when Steve suddenly pushed his way from the crowd, Billy felt like he needed to follow. He may not like Harrington a lot, but he could at least see if the boy was alright.

What he didn't expect, though, was to almost trip over the other teenager when he exited the house. The porch out the back of the house wasn't exactly big, mostly just to keep a few chairs on before the stairs started. So when Billy walked out of the backdoor, he nearly stumbled over Harrington, who was sitting on the steps.

 "Woah, Harrington, I almost just fucking tripped over you," Billy said, expecting to get some sort of reaction out of Steve like he always does when he talks to him, but there was nothing. Billy observed Harrington for a minute, seeing the way that he was only slightly rocking with his head down and his hands twisted in his hair. Billy knew what a panic attack looked like. "Harrington, hey Harrington, can you hear me? Harrington? Steve, come on man, you're really starting to freak me out."

There was still no response until Billy reached out and dropped a hand on Harrington's shoulder. It was as that time that Harrington finally seemed to notice someone else was there and he jumped off the steps in one movement, surprisingly graceful with the amount of alcohol that Billy had seen him drink.  Billy could barely see Harrington's face, with only one porch light to illuminate the outside, but it was enough. The look that was on Harrington's face wasn't one of recognition, but more like he wasn't sure where he was or what he was doing. He stared at Billy until the blinked a few times and seemed to realize where he was. The quick movements was enough to shock Billy, but he quickly covered it up with a grin when he noticed that Steve was starting to realize where he was.

"What's got you all riled up, pretty boy? Bot to be something bad if you reacted like that," Billy asked, trying to lighten the tense mood that was surrounding them. To keep his hands busy, Billy took out the cigarette that was in his mouth and quickly drank the rest of his beer. Steve didn't respond right away, like he was still trying to process what was happening. Yup, he was wasted.

"Fuck off, Hargrove," Steve said, after the long pause. Billy did not miss the waver in his voice, but he decided not to comment on it. He may be an asshole, but he's not enough of an asshole to fuck with someone after they just had a panic attack.

 Billy watched Harrington for a moment, dropping the beer can and leaning against the railing of the porch. He kept his smile on his face, not to make Harrington agree, but to keep himself calm. He was never good in situations like this. "Hey now, where did that come from, pretty boy? I don't think I'm doing anything to deserve that kind of behavior."

"I don't have the energy to deal with you right now," Steve said, almost too quietly for Billy to even hear. He sounded almost defeated, like he was done with whatever the hell this was. Billy opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Harrington had already turned away from him and was not trying to stumbled away to the side of the house. It was almost amusing, watching Harrington trying to walk drunk, but then it just got sad. The boy was obviously totally wasted and could not even walk straight. When Steve tripped over a rock next to the house, Billy finally decided to help.

"What the hell do you think you're going, Harrington?" Billy asked, quickly grabbing Steve's arm to keep him from falling and braining himself on another of the rocks that were on the ground. He was no longer smiling and he had dropped his damn cigarette somewhere in the grass.

"To my car so I can go home and regret whatever I did tonight," Harrington snapped at him, yanking his arm away with too much force. Billy rolled his eyes and continued to walk next to Harrington. And people said that he was stubborn.

"Like hell you're driving anywhere like this. Come on, I'll take you home, Harrington," he said. He made sure to put his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket so he wouldn't automatically reach out the Harrington again. He could see the look that Steve gave him, a look of confusion and distrust. It was almost cute.

"Why're you being nice to me?" Steve finally asked, turning away from Billy to keep walking, but still making sure that he was keeping on eye on him. Billy pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and put one in his mouth. He lit it and took a very long drag. The smoke burned his throat and he knew from experience that it was an unpleasant smell, especially when you were drunk. He turned his head away from Steve, blowing the smoke in the opposite direction instead. He stayed silent for a few more moments, lazily smoking the rest of his cigarette as he watched Steve struggle to walk. If the pretty boy didn't want help, he wasn't going to give it.

"I can tell you're wasted, Harrington, and even I don't like to let drunk as fuck people try to drive themselves home. The last thing that I need to hear is that you went and wrapped yourself around a tree or some shit," he finally said. He wasn't sure if Harrington even heard him, because all of a sudden he was stumbling back against the house. Billy froze, ready to reach out if Harrington fell on his ass. Instead, he was able to lean successfully against the house and bang his head against the siding.

 When Steve commented on seeing him drink, Steve scoffed at it. His mind went back to count the number of beers that he had and concluded that it wasn't enough for him to be drunk. He knew his limits. Plus, he didn't drink the concoction that someone made, which he knew that Steve drank. That was probably the reason why the pretty boy was so wasted. That shit can be dangerous.

After responding back to Harrington, Billy tilted his head back to take another drag of the cigarette in his mouth. The warm smoke curled in his mouth and down his throat, warming him up. He tried to remember why he decided to come out of the warm house, dressed only in his tight jeans and a shirt that was unbuttoned to show of the majority of his skin, and why he was staying out there. It was obvious that Harrington didn't want his help, he expressed it enough times while they were in the cold. All he wanted for tonight was to come to a party and forget about all the shit that happened in the last few weeks. He could still feel the phantom sensation of whatever Max drugged him with that night and there were still faint bruises on his back from after he got home. It's been hell and all he wanted was to have some fun. Now he was stuck babysitting Harrington while he was drunk off his ass.

Laughter pulled Billy out of his own thoughts and he looked back down at Harrington. The other boy was still staring at him, making the whole situation even more unnerving. Something about Steve's laughter and face made Billy take a step back and freeze when he tried to lower his cigarette. He's seen the look on Steve's face too many times, every time he managed to catch his reflection when he was flirting with someone, the look of someone just trying to put on a front. The laughter was chilling though, almost drowned out by the music coming from the house. Billy wasn't sure whether he wanted to punch, run, or hug Steve.

The change in Steve's body language snapped Billy out of the trance that he was in while watching him laugh. It was abrupt, like an earthquake that nobody knew about. It happened when Steve was looking up at the dark skies above them. The first sign was when he stopped laughing, as sudden as he had started, and then he squeezed his eyes shut. Billy was almost positive that he was tears in the corners of Steve's eyes, but they never fell down his face. Then he was suddenly spinning around and slamming his fist into the siding of the house. Steve didn't even flinch, Billy noticed, like he didn't even feel the pain. Billy can speak from experience that punching walls tended to hurt like a bitch. Steve pulled his fist back and let in fly towards the wall again.

"Harrington, what the fuck? Harrington. Harrington! Steve!" It was like Steve couldn't hear him, like he had no idea Billy was trying to talk to him. The skin on Steve's knuckles tore and red spots were starting to be left on the side of the house whenever he pulled his hand away. Billy finally had enough of watching Steve lose the fight against the house and made a grab for his hand the next time he pulled it back. "Harrington, what the actual fuck? Are you trying to fucking hurt yourself?"

He forced Steve to turn around and look at him. Billy couldn't see much in the dim light, since the only source to see by was whatever managed to escape from the house. Half of Steve's face was covered in shadows, but Billy could still make out the tight line of his lips and the way his eyes were squinty, like he was still trying not to cry. Steve just stared at him, his face almost blank and it irritated Billy that he couldn't tell what the other teenager was thinking. He prided himself in always being able to read Steve like a book, but now there were too many emotions mixed together.

Steve said nothing, which only ignited the fire in Billy. He knew that he was easily angered, just like his father. Billy knew that it wasn't something he should be proud of, and it wasn't, but it was something that he couldn't help. After all, he was Neil's son. So, when Steve didn't answer him, Billy dropped his wrist and moved closer to him, crowding Steve closer to the side of the house. "What the fuck in wrong with you? Because let me tell you, you're really starting to piss me off."

When Steve answered back and mentioned the Byers' house, Billy knew that he wanted to get him made. Billy clenched his jaw, trying to remind himself that Harrington was drunk and probably won't remember any of this come tomorrow. The look that Steve was giving him, wide puppy-dog eyes that were too telling, succeeded at making Billy struggle to retain the little control he had. His fists clenched together tight enough to hurt the muscles.

"I'm warning you, Harrington, do not tempt me," Billy warned, his voice now strained to not sound angry. It was impossible for him to keep the tone that he had before, but maybe if he tried to sound less angry then Steve would get bored and stop. It didn't help and the next thing made Billy lose the small amount of control that he had for a split second, but it was enough.

 He moved closer to Harrington, fully intending to punch the little fucker in the face, but he found that he couldn't. Steve didn't even try to defend himself, didn't put his hands up to block, didn't try to hit Billy back, didn't even try to take a cheap shot and aim between the legs. All Steve did was close his eyes and wait for the pain to come. And that pain was going to come from Billy. Billy never said he was a good person, hell, he'd tell anyone who thought he was that they were crazy, but even he still had standards. He wasn't about to beat the shit out of someone who wouldn't even defend himself, especially not Harrington. It if wasn't a fair fight, then he wasn't going to fight it. Instead he kept his close proximity to Harrington, but only stood there and watched the other boy's face. After a moment, he let out a frustrated grunt and stepped away Steve, quickly turning around and running a hand through his hair to stop his hands from shaking.

"I have no idea what you are even planning or what you want, Harrington, but there is no way that I'm going to give it to you. You're drunk as fuck and I know that you want to go home and I know that I want to go the fuck home, so let's get a move on," Billy said. He dropped the cigarette that he forgot was in his hand and made his way down the path and away from the house. He wasn't even sure if Steve was going to follow him, but honestly, he didn't really give a fuck any more. This whole situation made him even more tired and all he wanted to do was sleep. He could hear the moment that Harrington decided to follow him and a small smile spread across his lips.

 The trek to the Camaro took far longer than it should have, but Steve had to keep stopping and bending over so he wouldn't puke all over the place. With the shape that Harrington was in, Billy was kind of afraid to leave him by himself, cause he would probably go get himself hit by a car or something, so he kept close to him when he had to stop. When the car finally came into view, Billy quickened his steps and slid behind the wheel, starting the Camaro up almost immediately. When Steve didn't come into the car right away, Billy was okay with that. The last thing to make this night worse was for Harrington to puke all over his car. But then it was too long and Steve just stood outside the car. Billy noticed his hands twitching, like he was trying to wrap his fingers around something. It was not hard to miss the way Steve got tense as he looked out into the trees and Billy was getting antsy even staring at him. So, he leaned across the front seats and opened the door, making it hit Steve's hip with more force than necessary.

"Come, get the hell in already. It's cold," Billy said, watching as Harrington jumped and looked back at him. When he asked for pretty boy's address, Steve rattled it off almost automatically.

The ride to Steve's house was quiet. Billy kept stealing glances over at Harrington, but every time he looked over, Steve had the same expression on his face. He was still and his eyes were glazed, like he didn't know where he was or what was going on. When they finally reached the Harrington residence, Billy offered Steve help to the front door because he was generally concerned for the other boys safety, but Steve declined. Billy wasn't about to argue with him, to tired to care much, and he quickly drove away from the house. He had no desire to go back home, not back to Neil. It was still too early for him to be asleep and he didn't want to run into his dad.

So instead he drove towards the quarry, hoping for some peace and quiet there. That's all he wanted. Just some god damn peace and quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was an okay chapter and that I'm still getting them close to in character. The new semester started for me at college and I don't know what my update schedule will be yet, so just hang in there everyone.


	3. Steve - The Store

_It was hard for him to see what was going on around him. A chill ran through Steve and he pulled his jacket tighter around himself in an attempt to ward off the cold. He could see his breath puff in front of his face every time he exhaled and it was the only sound around him. The occasional water droplet fell somewhere around him, but it wasn't enough to break the silence that Steve was stuck in. It gave him a sense of unease, like something was wrong. Even with the little visibility that he had, Steve knew where he was almost immediately and he tightened his grip on the bat in his hand._

_"_ _Dustin, Mike, other kids!" Steve yelled, turning in a circle to look for the brats. Both ends of the tunnel looked the same, seeming to go on forever before eventually turning and disappearing. He knew that the kids were somewhere down here, he did come down with them after all. He just didn't remember them suddenly leaving him standing there like an idiot. "Come on, you little shits! We need to get the hell out of here." Silence drifted back to him and Steve stayed quiet for a moment to listen for any sounds that could be the kids. He heard nothing and it made his blood run cold. They were a bunch of kids, there should be noise. They should be down here somewhere. Steve took a step forwards, sinking into the ground every time he put his foot down. He had no idea where he was going, but he had to find the kids and get them the hell out of here before anything finds them._

_"_ _Steve!"_

_The voice was familiar, too familiar. It was deep, not one of the kids, and wasn't feminine. He knew that voice anywhere and it sounded like it was in distress. It made Steve's heart pump and the adrenaline finally moved to his legs, which picked up speed and carried him further into the tunnels. It was awkward, running with the bat, but there was no way he was leaving it behind, not when he could need it. He had no idea where he was going, but it wasn't hard to follow the screams that were echoing down the tunnels. Steve finally rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks, the bat falling from his hands._

_It was almost impossible to think that the globs of meat and blood that decorated the tunnels in front of Steve was once human. The smell was strong, not even the fabric around his mouth could keep it out. A familiar hat lay near one of the piles that was once human and it made Steve want to puke. He was supposed to protect the kids, Joyce and Hopper trusted him. But he failed, like he always did. He only wanted it to be him, not them. He's fucked up enough, no one would be very sad if he was gone. Hell, his parents probably wouldn't even notice._

_A gurgling sound grabbed Steve's attention and he looked further up the tunnel. A demodog was crouched over something, eating noisily at whatever it was. Steve took a step forwards, wondering which kid he had to see now. But when the demodog shifted its body, it wasn't a small face he saw. Blond hair stained with blood and an arm still covered in a jean jacket reached for him. Billy was still alive. He was still alive while that fucking thing was eating him._

_Steve took a step back, slipping on something on the ground and fell on his ass loudly. The demodog froze and looked back at him. Steve couldn't move as the demodog ran towards him. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the end, for everything to finally be done and over with._

* * *

 

The haze didn't lift from him eyes when he finally woke up. The Upside Down was still imprinted on the back of his eyelids and all he saw in his room was blood. Dustin's blood, Max's blood, Billy's blood. Steve flew off his bed, the sheets tangling around his ankles and tripping him. His face slammed into the floor and he could feel something warm leak onto his mouth, but he ignored it and frantically crawled to the corner of his room. Where the bat was.

Heart pounding like a jackhammer, Steve grabbed the bat and struggled to his feet. It didn't even register in his mind that he had grabbed it from the wrong end. He simply switched his hands and crouched down like he was ready to take a swing. A demodog seemed to appear in front of him and Steve closed his eyes, taking a wild swing in its general direction. The bat met drywall instead of flesh and blood, but it didn't matter to Steve. He knew what he saw and he would be damned if he let it come after him next. He swung the bat at another demodog that was coming towards him.

It didn't occur to him that he had been holding his breath until his head started to feel like it was swimming and black crept on the corners of his eyes. He took one last swing at the Demogorgon that was stalking towards him before he finally dropped the bat to the ground, his arms limp and numb. The Demogorgon and demodogs disappeared and Steve was left alone in his room. Adrenaline still pumping, he fell back against the wall and slid to the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest. He held his hand out in front of him, light from one of the garden lights that his mom wanted filtered in from the window. His hand was shaking, like it normally seemed to be doing now, and Steve clenched it tightly. A stinging pain ran up his arm when he made his other hand into a fist and he held it up to see what was wrong. The shine of blood mocked him and it only reminded him of his dream. He quickly dropped his hand when he felt like he was going to vomit.

Steve dropped his head between his knees and stayed as still as possible.

Ringing from a phone somewhere in the house woke him up next and Steve groaned. His body felt exhausted and his face and hand hurt like a bitch. The tell-tale signs of a hangover were quickly becoming obvious, especially when the phone started to ring again. With shaking legs, Steve managed to pull himself up. He had to take a minute when the world started to spin around him before Steve could start moving again. His only blessing was that there was a phone in the upstairs hallway so he wouldn't have to try and make his way down the stairs.

"Hello?" Steve asked and grimaced at his own voice. It was scratchy, like he had slept outside all night, and his breath smelled like death.

"Steve? Hi, this is Mrs. Henderson," the woman on the other side of the phone said.

"Oh, hey there Mrs. Henderson. What can I do for you?" Steve asked Dustin's mom, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. Something cakey was on his face and he brought his hand up to feel what it was. Dark flakes came back with his fingers.

"I was just wondering when you would be here to pick Dustin up and take him to the arcade. He's getting really impatient and I need to go to work soon," Mrs. H said and Steve cursed at himself. He had completely forgotten that he had promised to take Dustin to the arcade to hand out with all the other little shits.

"I'm so sorry, I slept in. I'll be around in about a half hour, if that works, Mrs. H," Steve said, already working on unbuttoning his pants so he could take a quick shower.

"Yes, that would be just fine. Thank you, Steve." Mrs. H said, sounding relieved. Steve quickly said his goodbyes and hung up the phone. He didn't bother to grab extra clothes before he headed to the bathroom, pulling his dirty shirt over his head as he entered the room.

He turned the knob for the water, not paying attention to the temperature that it was turned to. Steve quickly finished getting undressed and stepped into the spray of water. It was a little on the hot side, but he ignored it was the water matted his hair and fell down his face. It washed away the sweat that stuck to his skin and he made sure to scrub the blood off his face. The hot water burned the cuts on Steve's hand and he made sure to use that hand as little as possible. He didn't bother to actually wash his hair, just wet it to get the product that he could out of it. When he felt like he was as clean as he could get with his time crunch, Steve shut off the water and dried himself off as quickly as he could. With the towel tied around his waist, Steve walked to the sink and opened the medicine cabinet. The gauze was on the bottom shelf and he grabbed it, doing his best to wrap his hand. It turned out messy, but it worked to keep him from bleeding everywhere. He looked in the mirror and stared at his reflection. The dark circles weren't anything new under his eyes, but the rather large bruise that was forming along the bridge of his nose was and it already started to look nasty. He avoided looking at himself in the eyes, already knowing what he was going to see, and quickly made his way back to his room.

As he walked out of the front door, be suddenly remembered that his car wasn't in the driveway. That was right. Billy gave him a ride home last night after he was deemed too drunk to drive. Luckily he remembered where the girl's house was and it was only a few blocks away from his.

The drive to the Henderson's house was too quick for Steve's liking. He wished he had more time to at least work on his poker face, especially around Dustin. Steve knew that the kid was the only one that he really had to be worried about. He's babysat the brat too much for him not to notice something wrong with Steve. So, when he pulled up outside the Henderson house and honked his horn, he took one last look in the review mirror to see if he looked presentable. A yell drew his attention and he looked up so see Dustin running down the walkway of his house. Tearing the door open, Dustin slid in and quickly slammed it behind him.

"Okay, now that you finally got here, to the arcade!" Dustin all but yelled, making Steve wince when his hungover brain registered the pain of the loud voice. Dustin noticed and finally actually looked at Steve. "Woah man, what the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Steve said as he pulled the car away from the curb and headed towards the arcade. "Are the rest of the monsters at the arcade already?"

"Yeah, they are, but don't avoid my question. It looks like you got in a fight with a door and lost," Dustin said and Steve inwardly groaned. He should have known better than to expect Dustin of all people to drop the topic.

"I rolled out of my head and smacked my face into the floor," Steve said. It wasn't a total lie, he did fall out of his bed. Dustin just didn't need to know why he fell out of bed. "Just drop it, kid."

"Fine," Dustin said, crossing his arms and sulking in the seat. This time Steve outwardly groaned, but didn't say anything. Luckily, they were pulling up to the arcade now and Dustin was already unbuckling himself.

"I'll be back to pick you up around two. Be ready to go by then," Steve called after Dustin, who was already out of the car and running to the arcade. He waved over his shoulder to let Steve know that he heard him before disappearing into the building. Steve rolled his eyes and looked down at his watch. He had a few hours to kill and he didn't want to go back to his house. Not now. As he sat there, Steve realized that he hasn't been this free in a long time. Since the first time they encountered the Upside Down, Steve has been busy babysitting and when he wasn't doing that, he at least had Nancy to hang out with. When they broke up, Steve became busy trying not to fall the fuck apart. Now he was trying to think of something to do and it didn't feel natural.

The bad thing about Hawkins is that it was small, which also meant that there wasn't very much to do. The arcade was one of the only things to do that is considered fun, but there was no way he was going there. Not by himself and not when the kids where there. There were a few shops along the main street of Hawkins, which included a music store. The only other places that would be even remotely entertaining was the junk yard and the quarry. After the Upside Down, Steve never wanted to step foot in the junkyard again and he couldn't go swimming, so there wasn't really a reason for him to go to the quarry. Putting his car into drive, Steve pulled away from the arcade and headed towards the main street.

The main street was busier than normal, with it being morning on a Saturday. Steve managed to find a parking spot not far from the music store and he made sure to pull his sunglasses down over his face. It helped with the headache, as well as hiding the bags under his eyes and most of the bruise that was spreading over his nose. He ran a hand through his limp hair once to get it out of his face before finally getting out of the car. After making sure that he locked it. Steve shoved his hands into his pockets and quickly walked down the sidewalk. It felt like everyone was staring at him, like they knew what he had done, like they knew what he was. His heart started to pick up and by the time he made it to the music store, Steve was practically running.

It was better in the store. The lights were dimmed and there was a suspicious haze in the air. Not very many people were in the store, only a few were milling around the records and cassettes. Steve couldn't even remember the last time he actually listened to music, so after a moment of looking around lost, he finally decided to settle on looking through one of the racks closest to him. His brain wasn't registering any of the records that he was flipping through as he glanced around the store again. He wasn't necessarily looking at the other people in the store or even the store itself, but he found his eyes were wondering to the corners again, like they had at the party last night. Even though the store was dimly lit, the lights were spread out so there wasn't a corner left unlit. Even the back employees' area was lit enough for Steve to see inside. It helped him feel more at ease.

"Well, hey there King," someone said from behind Steve, causing him to jump and spin around. Billy was standing behind him, a large grin on his face. After glaring at him, Steve noticed that he did change his clothes, but it didn't look like he had washed or showered. He was giving Steve his iconic smirk. "What's up with the sunglasses? The hangover that bad?"

Steve didn't have the energy to deal with Hargrove right now. He was barely standing as is and all he wanted was a quiet afternoon with music before he had to pick Dustin up again. Steve looked at Hargrove for a moment longer, before turning his back and saying, "Leave me alone, Hargrove. I'm not in the mood to listen to you right now."

"Oh, come on, is that how you talk to the person who saved your life? Not very kingly of you, pretty boy," Hargrove said, leaning against the rack that Steve was looking through. He crossed his arms and continued to stare at Steve. The moment of silence stretched on until Steve couldn't take it anymore and practically threw the record that was in his hand back on the rack. He finally found a spot that didn't have darkness and Hargrove just had to come ruin it.

The lights overhead flickered for a moment, just a split second, but it was enough. Steve froze, too terrified to move. He didn't want to look away from the wall, didn't want to risk seeing a Demogorgon lurking in a corner. Electricity was the only way that he could remember that was used to communicate from the Upside Down. Maybe someone else was trapped in there. Maybe it was one of the kids. God, what if it was Will? Steve knew that he would do anything for those kids, but he was afraid that if he had to face another demodog or Demogorgon, he wouldn't make it back alive again.

"Steve, for fuck's sake, look at me," Billy said, finally managing to grab Steve's attention. Steve shifted his eyes from the poster that he was looking at on the wall to Billy's face, which was a lot closer than it was before. Billy's eyes were wide as he searched Steve's face, something that was akin to concern just barely on his face. "What the hell is going on? You okay?"

"I-I need to get out of here," Steve managed to get out before shoving out of Steve's arms, only to find that his legs weren't working and he fell back against the record rack. He looked at his surroundings for only a moment, but he swore he saw a large shape in one of the corners of the store. Steve squeezed his eyes shut and shoved the heels of his hands against his lids, pushing his glasses up into his limp hair.

"Hey, I got you Steve. Just follow me." Steve felt arms wrap around his shoulders and he was slowly moved away from the rack. At first his legs didn't move, but Billy said, "Come on, you aren't as light as you may think. I do need a little help with this."

Steve finally managed to get his legs working again, but it was more in a shuffle movement that seemed like enough for Billy. Steve kept the heels of his hands pressed hard against his eyes, to the point that it was now starting to become painful but he didn't care. He heard the jingle of the bell above as Billy lead them out of the store. He wasn't sure where Billy was leading him, but it didn't take long before he felt brick on his back instead of Billy's arms. He didn't want to take his hands away from his face, too terrified of what he would see if he did. Strong fingers wrapped around his wrists and his hands were pulled away anyways, against his will. The sunglasses slipped back over his eyes, but those too were quickly pushed away.

"Take deep breaths for me, Steve, and relax. I don't know what you're so freaked out about, but I promise you that it isn't here. You're safe. Look at me, Steve," Billy said, so close that Steve could smell the cigarettes on his breath. It reminded him of the night before and he found himself opening his eyes before realizing it. Billy was starting at him, not saying anything. Steve noticed that he was making his breathing more noticeable and Steve quickly followed him, matching his breathing with his own. After that, it seemed like an eternity before Steve found himself calm again.

"Shit," Steve said, closing his eyes again and resting his head back on the brick wall. Billy finally let go of his wrists and Steve could hear him moving next to him, leaning against the wall with a groan. Billy shuffled around and soon Steve could smell smoke.

"What the fuck is with the bruise, Harrington? It looks like you got into a fight sometime between last night when I dropped you off and this morning," Hargrove said, blowing smoke in front of them.

"Why would you care? Just screw off and leave me be, Hargrove," Steve finally said, feeling himself calm down enough. Fuck, that was the second time Hargrove saved him from an attack.

"Nope, you aren't getting away that easily, Harrington. I helped you again, so that means you owe me now," Hargrove said and Steve's eyes snapped open to look at the other boy. Billy had his smirk on his face, the cigarette perched perfectly between his lips.

"What the hell do you think you're going to get from me? I don't owe you anything," Steve protested, staring at Billy. He couldn't believe this was happening. One thing that he didn't want was to owe Billy of all people.

"Sure you do. Lucky for you, I haven't eaten all day, so I'll just settle for you buying me lunch," Hargrove said, pushing himself off of the wall. He moved past Steve, smirking over his shoulder as he passed. Billy got to the end of the alley that he had pulled them into before stopping and looking back at Steve. He pulled his hand out of the pocket of his jacket and dangled a familiar pair of keys in the air. "You coming or what?"

Steve started at the keys, hands desperately searching his own pockets, but sure enough, his keys were gone. Steve glared at Billy and his keys that were held in the other boy's hand. Hargrove quickly spun on his heels and disappeared around the corner. Steve sighed and put his sunglasses back on his face before quickly hurrying after Hargrove.

"Give me my keys back, asshole!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wrote this chapter between classes and when my roommate kicked me out of the room, so hopefully it was alright.


	4. Billy

His car was cold the next morning when he woke up. Billy did keep a blanket in the trunk of the Camaro, for situations like this, but the blanket was thin and the weather was getting colder. The one thing that he probably missed the most about California was the year long nice weather. Well, that and the fact that not everyone in the state were complete idiots, like it seems that this town was.

            Billy threw the blanket off of himself and crawled out of the backseat. After a quick search of the front two seats, he found his jean jacket that he had thrown in last night before he left the house and quickly threw it on. It didn’t do much to shield him from the cold air, but it was still better than a thin shirt. Billy stretched, taking in the scene around him. He had randomly parked somewhere near the quarry, which turned out to be a small beach near the water. He had no idea how he managed to find the place, or how he got through the thick vegetation that seemed to hide it from plain view, but he was happy that he had. After the shit with Steve last night, Billy just wanted somewhere quiet to spend the night.

            When the thought of Harrington popped into his head, Billy froze with his arms reaching above his head. The other boy had almost completely slipped his mind, but now the whole night came rushing back to Billy like a fucking train. Seeing Harrington dancing drunk in the house, him freaking out about something and then disappearing. Steve’s panic attack. Billy almost wishes he could forget that the had ever seen Steve like that. It made it harder to hate Harrington. Right now, he did hate the other boy, anger bubbling up inside Billy. Harrington ruined his night, his plans to get laid finally after almost a month and just forget about all the shit in his life. But no, Harrington had to come and ruin it like he always seems to do, making sure Billy couldn’t do jack shit.

            Billy spun around and threw a punch down onto the hood of the Camaro. It sent a sting up through his hand and into his arm, but it didn’t leave a dent in the metal, luckily. It didn’t really help Billy feel less angry, but the pain made him think twice about punching the hood again. He just had to find something softer to hit, something in town. Maybe he’ll find Harrington and take his anger out on the other boy, like the night at the Byers’ house.

            Billy slid into the driver seat and fished his keys out of his pocket. The clock on the dash read 11:30. He knew that he had to take Max to the arcade today, but it was too late for that. He’ll just have to face Neil’s rage when he got home. He knew that Neil wouldn’t be home now, so it was his only chance to go home and change. It smelled like there was spilt beer on his clothes and he was not feeling like walking around all day smelling like that. After that, he wasn’t sure that he would do tonight. Maybe he’ll just stay another night at the quarry again, Billy thought as he put the car in reverse and backed up so he could drive out the way he had come in. Some tree branches scrapped along the side of his car and it made Billy irritated, but he hadn’t seen any visible scratches from when he drove to the quarry the same way, so hopefully the branches won’t leave any marks this time either.

            Neil’s car was gone from the drive way when Billy pulled up, just like he had expected. Billy had no idea where his father went on Saturdays, but he honestly could not care less. As long as he didn’t have to deal with the old man. Billy put the Camaro into park, not bothering to actual turn it off, since he wasn’t planning on staying in the house any longer than necessary. The front door was unlocked, meaning that at least Susan was home. He made sure to bypass any area that she would be in on his way to his bedroom and quietly shut the door behind him. There was no way that Susan didn’t know Billy was home, but she was just as fine as he was with them ignoring the other.

            Billy stripped out of his clothes and contemplated on whether he wanted to bother with a shower or not. He finally decided on not and just pulled out a change of cloths from his dresser. He payed no attention to what they were, since there really wasn’t a reason for him to dress up for today. He had no idea what he was even going to do to pass the time. Fuck this town.

            There wasn’t much to do in this small, back wood town. If he was still in California, Billy knew that he would probably be at the beach or somewhere along the boardwalk. He was missing the ocean and driving along the cliffs with his windows down, so he could smell the salt in the air. Now when he drove, it was through the woods and all he smelled was animals and fucking bark. He would give anything to go back to California. As soon as he was out of school, he’s going to be gone.

            He drove into Hawkins, avoiding the arcade, and made his way down the main street. Billy’s spent a lot of time walking along the sidewalks, gazing into the different small shops when he was avoiding going home for a day. The only place that he had seen so far that looked even remotely interesting was the record shop that was tucked between a pottery shop and a clothing store that looked like it was meant for old people. Billy found a parking spot across the road and walked into the record shop. Surprisingly, it reminded him of his favorite shop back in California. The whole place looked like a mess, but all the records were in a precise place. A mysterious haze hung in the air and Billy made a mental note to ask someone who worked here where they got their shit and if it was good.

            Billy took a total of three steps into the store before he noticed him. Harrington, good ol’ Harrington, was hunched over a rack of records, idle looking through them. Billy could tell, even from here, that he wasn’t very interested in any of the ones that he was looking at. It was like he was moving on autopilot, doing it simply to keep his hands busy. He was wearing sunglasses and Billy knew how hard that made it to see. He used to wear sunglasses whenever Neil gave him a black eye and he wore them enough to know that it probably wasn’t easy to see in the already dimly lit store. Someone walked by Steve and Billy saw him physically flinch away from the person. What the hell happened to Harrington to make him act like that?

            Billy decided to go bother the other teenager. What could he say, he was bored and needed some sort of entertainment. Billy sauntered up behind Harrington and stood there, waiting for the other boy to notice, but he never did. Steve just kept on aimlessly flicking through the records and looking towards the back room like he was expecting something to be there. Billy stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his feet, a smirk plastered on his face.

            “Well, hey there King,” Billy said and the reaction that he got from Steve was almost the same as the one at the party. Steve spun around so fast that it even made Billy dizzy from just watching him. He even stumbled back against the record bin that he was looking through, a look of panic across his face. Billy would lie if he said that he didn’t regret scaring Harrington, but there was no way that he was going to let the other boy know that. Instead, he kept his smirk stuck to his face as he eyed Harrington up and down. “What’s up with the sunglasses? The hangover that bad?”

            Billy could see Steve practically deflate when he saw that it was just Billy behind him. Billy felt kind of insulted, in a weird way, but he guesses that it was probably good that he wasn’t whatever Steve was obviously afraid of. Steve leans back more against the records while he caught his breath before looking up at Billy again from behind his sunglasses. He saw his own reflection grinning back at him and he honestly looked like shit. How the hell did he leave the house without at least looking into a mirror first? He looked about as good as he felt, after a night in the Camaro.

            “Leave me alone, Hargrove. I’m not in the mood to listen to you right now,” Harrington said as he turned back around to aimlessly look through the records again. Billy noticed that Steve was putting on more of a show than before, probably to give some sort of hint to Billy, but Billy never said that he was good with subtleness.

            “Oh, come on, is that how you talk to the person who saved your life. Not very kingly of you, pretty boy,” Billy said. Steve ignored him again, so he decided to move against the rack that he was looking through, folding his arms in front of him and staring Steve down. It was satisfying to see Steve get to frustrated that he threw the record that was in his hand down and it spurred Billy to keep going. He opened his mouth to say another smartass remark, but then the lights flickered, and he looked up at the ceiling. Billy thought nothing of it, figuring that it was probably just a short power surge or something, then he looked back down at Steve.

            The other boy seemed to have frozen in his spot, like someone had dumped cold water all over him. Even with the sunglasses on, Billy could tell that Steve was staring at the wall, probably not even blinking either. Billy stayed silent, so he could just stare at the other teenager for a minute. Then Steve’s chest started to raise up and down rapidly, like he was hyperventilating or something. His arms, where they were set on the records in front of him, started to shake violently. Billy had no idea what the hell was going on, but apparently the flickering lights scared Steve. Billy wanted desperately to make fun of the other boy, to laugh and tease him, but he couldn’t. He knew what it was like to fear something to trivial, something that everyone else didn’t even blink at eye at. His gut wrenched violently as he watched Steve.

            “Steve, for fuck’s sake, look at me,” Billy demanded. He didn’t want to touch him, in case it enacted another reaction out of Steve that neither wanted. Instead, he settled for moving closer to Steve in an attempt to get his attention. It seemed to work, since Steve moved his head slightly towards Billy, finally looking away from the poster that Billy assumed he was looking at. The panic was open and real in Steve’s face and it made Billy even more concerned. It reminded him too much of the night before. “What the hell is going on? You okay?”

            Steve mumbled something too quiet for him to hear, but he didn’t need to know what he said, since he pushed past Billy. Steve didn’t get fair, his legs suddenly seeming to fail him, and he collapsed against the records. Billy noticed that he seemed to be looking in the corner, the same one that he had been eyeing earlier, and he turned his head to see what it was. All Billy saw was some more posters on the walls, but that was it. There was nothing in the corner that could be scaring Steve this much, unless he was scared of the dark. All Billy wanted to do was make a joke, to tease Steve about his apparent fear of the dark, but even Billy knew his limits. He wasn’t a good person by any means, but he still wouldn’t fuck with someone who was obviously this terrified.

            The last straw was when Steve shoved his hands into his eyes with so much force that even Billy winced. It pushed the glasses up into his hair and Billy could see his shoulders shaking. Billy quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders and one lightly across his stomach to lead him out of the store. Steve wasn’t even trying to help, and he really needed to. The really wasn’t that light. “Hey, I got you Steve. Just follow me. Come on, you aren’t as light as you may think. I do need a little help with this.”

            Steve didn’t move his hands away from his face as Billy lead him out of the store. He wasn’t moving very fast and Billy was honestly surprised that he wasn’t getting as frustrated as he thought he would be. The concern that he was feeling for Steve was still raw in his throat and it scared him. He wasn’t used to this feeling, not since his mom years ago. He didn’t even know that he was still capable of it. The feelings he had for Max were nothing more that feeling responsible, mostly because he was afraid of what would happen to him if he didn’t watch out for her. What he felt for him father was pure fear and hatred, nothing more and nothing less. He couldn’t give a shit about Susan. Sure, she was nice but she never did anything for him. What he felt for Steve was real and he didn’t know what to do with it. He knew he was going to fuck it up, whatever it was he was feeling, he always did. But right now he just had to get Steve to a place that he would feel more safe, somewhere that was out of the way of prying eyes, but also some place that didn’t have any dark corners.

            There was a small alley between the record store and the pottery place where Billy quickly pulled Steve into. He made sure that they were hidden behind one of the large dumpsters that was pushed against the wall before he gently let Steve lean against the brick behind him. Steve let the wall take his weight then, but he still didn’t move his hands away from his face. Billy ground his teeth together at how helpless the other teen looked, and he wrapped his fingers around Steve’s wrists. He had no intention on being gently and tore his hands away from his face. Steve didn’t even bother to fight him and let his hands be moved. The glasses fell back in front of his face, but Billy shoved them out of the way. He wanted to be able to look at Steve when he was talking to him. He needed to see the other boy’s face and expressions. He had to know what he was doing was for the best.

            The bruise was the first thing that got his attention. It was ugly, standing out against Steve’s otherwise perfect skin. It wrapped around one eye, which started to look like it was puffing up, and expanded across his nose. The bruising went down the side of his nose and stretched to the skin underneath his eye. It was large and ugly, like it had just happened, dark blue and black. Billy didn’t know what happened between last night and now, but it pissed him off. Steve was supposed to be the perfect one, the kid who was going places. The bruise didn’t belong on him. It was something that should have been on Billy instead.

            “Take deep breaths for me, Steve, and relax. I don’t know what you’re so freaked out about, but I promise you that it isn’t here. You’re safe. Look at me, Steve,” Billy said, using the calmest voice that he could manage. He was just happy that it wasn’t shaky. Before he knew it, Steve was opening his eyes and stared at Billy. It was a little uncomfortable, Billy not used to being this close to someone without either fighting them or fucking them. All he wanted to was turn tail as fast as he could, leave Steve in the alley by himself and pretend like none of this every happened. And he almost did just that. The look in Steve’s eyes stopped him, the look of complete helplessness. It wasn’t something that he had ever seen on the other boy and it didn’t belong. He may have not known Steve for very long, but he knew the boy was different when he first got to town. He was charismatic, actively dishing back what Billy threw at him. But now he was a completely different person, jumping at his own shadow. Whatever happened to him really fucked him up.

            “Shit,” Steve finally said in a frail voice. He had caught onto the breathing technique that Billy had started to do, which he was happy about, and calmed down a little. Billy moved away from Steve when he was the other boy was somewhat calm and leaned against the wall next to him. Shit is right. This boy is stressful as fuck and he needed a smoke whenever he dealt with him. Billy fished his pack out of his pocket and swore when he was that he only had one cigarette left. Maybe he’ll make Steve buy him a new pack as repayment for dealing with his shit. Billy groaned when he put the smoke into his mouth and lit it. Fuck, he needed that.

            “What the fuck is with the bruise, Harrington? It looks like you go into a fight sometime between last night when I dropped you off and this morning,” Billy asked. He winced at himself at how much of an asshole he just sounded like. He was generally curious.

            The reaction he got told him that Steve look it the wrong way, and Billy was kind of off put by that, but it also mean that Steve was getting back to his old left. He snapped back and it actually made Billy smile. He’s had about enough of helpless Steve. “Nope, you aren’t getting away that easily, Harrington. I helped you again, so that means you owe me now.”

            Steve denied it again, so Billy made his way to the end of the alley, making sure to sway his hips even more than normally. What could he say, he wanted to give Harrington a show. The keys that he had swiped from the other boy jingled when he took them out of his pocket and held them up so Harrington could see them in his hands. He didn’t even notice when his smirk turned into a real smile as Harrington ran down the alley to catch up to him, reaching to grab his keys while the taller boy held them further above his head. Steve finally agreed to eat lunch with Billy, with the promise of his keys back after.

            Which was what found them at a small diner down the street from the record shop. It was quaint, with old leather booths and a long bar with circular seats. It screamed 50s and it reminded Billy of one he used to go to with his friends back in California. He already liked it and it got even better when the waitress appeared to take their orders. After they ordered, a coke and burger with fries for Billy and a milkshake with an order of fries for Steve, both boys settled back in the booth they picked near one of the front windows. Billy could finally see Steve, the light in the record store too dim to make out details and they were too distracted in the alley. It was safe to say that Harrington looked like hell too, even more than he did. It looked like he had just thrown on the first set of clothes that he saw, a wrinkled shirt and a pair of pants that looked a size too big for him. He kept his sunglasses on, but Billy could see the bruise peeking out from the bottom. His hair also lay flat, not styled up to the sky like it normally was. It was limp and fell around his face.

            Neither boy said anything as they waited for their food. Billy slouched in the booth with his arms crossed over his chest and Harrington was sitting straight up, his hands under the table, like he was ready to bolt. Billy let out a loud groan, drawing Harrington’s attention to him. Billy leveled him with a stare, saying, “Jesus, relax Harrington. Ain’t nothing in here that’s going to hurt you.”

            “Screw off,” Harrington replied, but he did relax. He leaned back against the back of the booth and looked out the window instead of around the diner. When their food arrived, Billy smiled at the waitress and dug into his burger when she walked away. He watched as Steve finally pulled his hands from underneath the table and reached for his fries. That was when Billy noticed the gauze that was wrapped haphazardly around Steve’s hand. Before he thought about it, Billy was reaching across the table and grabbing Steve’s wrapped hand. Steve froze and let Billy pull it further across the table to get a better look at it. Blood had started to seep through the white wrapping on his palm.

            “What the happened?” Billy asked, looking up from Steve’s palm to his face. He was the other teen’s expression turn from surprise to anger as he attempted to pull his hand away from Billy, but he wasn’t going to let him do it, not this time. Billy tightened his grip, which pulled a wince from Steve.

            “It’s none of your business. Now let me go,” Steve said, trying to pull his hand away again.

            “Fuck no, Harrington. It’s bleeding now. Come on,” Billy said, sliding out of the booth and pulling Steve with him. Steve tried to voice his protests, but Billy ignored him and pulled him to the bathroom. It was small, but well lit. He shoved Steve against the wall next to the sink and started to unwrap his hand. Steve protested again, trying even harder to get away from Billy. Frustration grew in Billy and he’s had about enough, which he voiced to Steve. “Harrington, I swear to got that if you don’t calm the fuck down and let me do this, then I am going to lock you in here with the lights off.”

            That made Steve stop struggling and go limp against the bathroom wall. It was enough for Billy to finish unwrapping the bloody gauze and get a good look at the hand. Deep gouges ran along Steve’s palm, about three deep ones and four or five other small scratches that weren’t bleeding anymore. There were also a few deep holes, like he had grabbed something with spikes. The hand looked like shit, but none of the cuts looked like they needed stitches. The deeper ones would probably benefit from them, but they weren’t necessary for the healing of them. Whatever Steve did to his hand, it looked like hell and probably hurt about that much too.

            “Steve, what the hell?” Billy asked, his voice almost a whisper. He looked back up at Steve and pushed his sunglasses up into his hair again with his other hand. Steve looked at him with wide eyes, like he was terrified of what Billy would say.

            “I grabbed it from the wrong end,” Steve said, only giving a vague explanation. It made Billy frown, not knowing what the hell he was talking about, then he remembered the spiked bat, the one that Max swung at his balls with. What the hell was Steve doing with one of those? And why the hell was he trying to grab it. Billy sighed and nodded, deciding not to push Steve anymore. He knew where Steve was coming from and he hated it when people would ask too many questions when he was in a similar position.

So instead he grabbed the discarded bandages that were placed on the counter and carefully began to wrap Steve’s hand back up, making sure not to put the bloody parts back on the wounds. He knew that it was unsanitary, but there was nothing else in the bathroom and it was even more unsanitary for everyone involved if Steve just walked around with an openly bleeding hand. He could feel Steve’s eyes on him, studying what he was doing, probably to make sure that the didn’t fuck up. When he was done, Billy let go of Steve’s hand, which he brought to his face to see the almost perfect wrapping.

“Why?” was all Steve said when he stared at his hand in wonder.

“It takes a lot of practice to be able to wrap a round with one hand and you obviously aren’t good at it. Next time you hurt yourself, just come find me to wrap it. I’d rather you bother me than get an infection and then have to have your arm cut off,” Billy said, and he saw Steve look up at him with amazement. He could feel his cheeks start to heat up under Steve’s gaze and he quickly spun around on his heels. “Let’s go finish eating and then you can go do whatever the fuck you want to do.”

Billy heard Steve follow him out of the bathroom a moment later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, I still don't have a set update schedule and I honestly probably never will. I can't even get my life together enough, much less update regularly. I also just write whenever I have time, so there's that too. I promise that there will be more plot and angst coming, so just wait.


	5. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is where the angst really starts, but there is almost some fluff, if you want to call it that. I don't know. And there is a warning for this chapter. There will be not so subtle mentions of self-harm, so please be warned.

It was awkward, to say the less, eating with Billy. After what happened in the bathroom, it made the tension even worse. Steve made sure to keep his bandaged hand underneath the table, eating his food with his left instead. When he exited the bathroom after Billy, he had pulled his sunglasses back down. Having Billy see his bruise was worse enough, he didn’t need other people seeing and asking questions about it.

            “So,” Billy said, finally breaking the awkward silence between them, “what’re your planes for the rest of the day?”

            “I gotta pick up Dustin from the arcade in a few hours,” Steve said, looking suspiciously at Billy, not that the other boy could even tell. “Why?”

            “Just curious,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and putting a fry into his mouth, which he chewed unnecessarily loud. Steve guessed it was to annoy him. The bell above the front door jingled, letting the waitresses know that someone new had walked into the diner, but neither boy looked up from their rood, not until someone stopped in front of their table.

            “Steve, it’s nice to see you. We didn’t see you at the party last night, did you come?” Nancy said, smiling down at Steve when he looked up. Nancy was standing at the end of their table, Jonathon next to her. Steve’s gut wrenched, and he felt like he was going to throw up when he saw her looking at him. Luckily her attention did stay on him for very long, since both her and Jonathan finally seemed to notice Billy sitting across from him. Nancy’s face fell into a scowl as she met Billy’s gaze. “What are you doing here?”

            “Trying to enjoy a nice lunch with the princess,” Billy said, smiling back up at Nancy and Steve was really contemplating on whether he should kick Billy under the table. He decided not to, mostly because he knew the other boy would made a big deal about. “So, if you don’t mind, leave.”

            “Steve, why don’t you come sit with us? You can bring your food with you. We can tell you about what happened at the party last night,” Nancy said, shifting back to look at Steve.

            Steve felt sick again, like if he was going to open his mouth then he would vomit all over the table. He swallowed, trying to will himself to speak, but the attack in the bathroom was still too fresh and he was never very functioning after they happened, which was why he was happy to just sit here in silence with Billy. Nancy raised her eyebrow and Steve knew she was waiting for an answer, but he couldn’t think of one, like his brain just short circuited and he forgot how to speak. His eyes darted to the door, debating if it was worth it to try and escape. He knew that Nancy would try to stop him, and Jonathon wouldn’t know what do. Billy was the wild card, he could do anything, and it was unpredictable.

            “Steve was at the party last night. Don’t worry, I made sure his drunk ass got home safe,” Billy said when Steve didn’t answer. A foot lightly touched his under the table and Steve snapped his attention to Billy, who was still looking up at Nancy. The foot underneath the table wrapped around his ankle and Steve noticed that the other boy was tapping his finger evenly on the table. That was when he noticed that his breathing had picked up and Steve quickly focused on breathing along with Billy’s tapping fingers.

            “What? Why didn’t you try and find us, Steve? We could have hung out, like old times,” Nancy said, sounding hurt. Steve closed his eyes, not wanting to look at her expression. She had no right to look like that, to use that tone of voice with him. All he wanted to do was go home and curl up in a corner with his bat.

            “Do you really think your ex-boyfriend wanted to hand out with his ex-girlfriend and her new freaky boyfriend?” Billy asked, and it almost made Steve laugh. “That question stands here too. If he wants to sit with you, he’ll go with you. If he wants to stay here, he will. It’s up to him and no one else.”

            “But, Steve,” Nancy said. When Steve didn’t move his head to look at her, she finally sighed. “Fine, but if you want to sit with us, just come over whenever. And, um, is it still okay if Mike stays at you house tonight?”

            Steve gave a small jerk of his head and heard the two of them walking away and it finally felt like he could breath again. He opened his eyes and focused on the table, not wanting to look around to see Nancy and Jonathan and not wanting to look at Billy, who saved him again. He swallowed and opened his mouth to say, “Thanks, again, for helping me. Looks like I owe you again.”

            “Don’t worry about it, Harrington. You still hungry?” Billy asked and Steve shook his head. What just happened ruined his appetite. Billy shifted across from him and Steve looked up. Billy had stood up and threw some money down on the table. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”

            Steve didn’t protest and quickly followed Billy out of the diner, noticing that there were already a few bills thrown on the table. He knew that he hadn’t paid, and he made sure that his wallet was still in his pocket. It was. Billy called after him and Steve quickened his pace to catch up with the other boy again. They were walking down the street in silence, which was fine with Steve. It would have been even weirder if one of them were talking. They finally stopped outside of the drugstore.

            “Stay here, I need to grab some more smokes,” Billy said, pointing at Steve as if he were a dog. Steve glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest, which just made Billy chuckle before he disappeared into the store. While waiting, Steve turned around and found a bench a few paces down the road to sit on. As soon as his ass hit the metal bench, he felt exhausted. He hadn’t noticed it while they were at the diner, too focused on food at first before Nancy and Jonathan showed up. Now that there was no immediate threat, Steve’s body finally gave out and he was afraid that he wasn’t going to be able to get back up, not even if a Demogorgon was chasing him.

            Steve laid back and craned his head up towards the sky. It was white and cloudless, meaning that it was probably going to snow soon. It was the beginning of December and still no snow, which was weird as is. While he thought, a cold breeze swept across the road and he shivered, pulling the flimsy jacket that he had grabbed tighter around himself. As soon as he graduated high school, he was gone. He had no idea where he would go, and he didn’t care, as long as it never got cold there. He didn’t like the cold anymore.

            Billy sat down heavily on the bench next to him and Steve smelled smoke not long after. He lowered his head and looked over at the other boy, who had slung an arm carelessly across the back of the bench and had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Steve huffed and said, “You know that those things will kill you, right?”           

“Kinda what I’m going for. Would rather them kill me than something else,” Billy said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and looking at it. “At least I’d go out cause of something I like.”

            Steve shrugged, not sure what else to say. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk about dying, not now. So, instead he focused on his surroundings and not Billy. For a Saturday afternoon, Hawkins is fairly quiet, probably because people heard about the impending snowstorm and were staying inside like any smart person would do. Across the road, a mother with her child was struggling with a shopping bag while an old man sat outside of a small shop that advertised fresh produce. A couple of cars drove past them and Steve could hear a group of younger kids, probably a little older than his own brats, loudly walk behind them. All in all, it was a nice day. It was too quiet for Steve.

            “When are you supposed to pick up the brat?” Billy asked, throwing the remains of his cigarette on the ground, but he didn’t reach for another one.

            “Brats, as in plural,” Steve told him, looking over at the other boy. “I already had to pick up Dustin, but then the Wheelers asked if I could have Mike stay at my place for a night so they can go out and Nancy can hang out with Jonathan. The rest of the shitheads heard about it and now they decided to have a sleepover at my house.”

            “And your parents won’t give a shit if you have a bunch of ankle bitters running around?” Billy asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

            Steve shrugged. “They’re never home enough to care. Might as well have an empty house full, for at least a night.”

            “Well, I gotta go pick up Max now, so I’ll see you around, Harrington,” Billy said, abruptly standing up and walking off. Steve watched him go, surprised by his sudden departure, but then he looked down at his watch and knew why. He had to go pick up the brats now. God, where the hell had the day gone?

            When Steve pulled up into the parking lot of the arcade, the last thing he was expecting to see was Max yelling at a quiet Billy, with the rest of the kids standing back and watching. Steve jumped out of his car once he shut if off and quickly made his way towards the group, who were slowly starting to get a crowd around them. Steve couldn’t make out what Max was yelling, nor did he really care. His eyes were set on Billy. To anyone else, he probably looked like he was bored at whatever Max was saying, but Steve knew better. He could see the panic that was skillfully hid under the mask.

            “What the hell is going on here?” Steve demanded, making Max freeze and the rest of the kids jump when he was suddenly there. Billy didn’t react, only moving his gaze to him instead of his sister. “Max, what’s up?”

            “Mike told me that they were having a sleepover at your house and Jane will be there! I tried to get Billy to let me go, but he keeps saying no,” Max explained, her voice still loud. Steve stared down at her and then back up at Billy.

            “Would your parents care if she came with? She won’t be the only girl there,” Steve asked, making sure his voice was quiet and soothing. It seemed to snap Billy out of whatever stupor he was in, at least a little bit.

            “Neil and Susan aren’t going to be home this weekend, they left today. Neil would have my ass if he knew that I let her go somewhere without me, though,” Billy said, trying to explain. Steve saw him look back down at Max, who still looked pissed.

            “You can come too,” Steve offered and there was an immediate protest about the idea. Billy shot his gaze back up and looked at him in surprise, like the offer was the last thing that he was expecting.

            “Steve, you can’t be serious?” Dustin said loudly.

            “Remember when he busted your face in? Cause I do,” Lucas called too and Steve looked back at the gang of kids. His look, even with his sunglasses on, shut the kids up. Then he looked back at Billy.

            “Ignore them, they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about,” Steve said quietly under his breath, so that only Billy could hear him.

            “Sure sounds like they know that they’re talking about and it sounds like they don’t want me there,” Billy said, his voice also low.

            “Well, it’s my house and I get to choose who I let inside. Plus, I’ll need the help with all of them,” Steve said. “Please, come.”

            Billy stared at him a moment and Steve could tell that he was thinking about bolting, but then he finally sighed and looked down at Max. “At least let us go home and get some shit packed, then we’ll head over to Steve’s.”

            Max let out a happy yell and ran back to the others, where they immediately crowed around each other to unsuccessfully whisper quietly. Steve looked back and Billy, giving him a reassuring smile, but the other boy just stared at him. Turning away, Billy yelled at Max and she eagerly followed him to where his car was parked. Steve watched them as they pulled out of the arcade parking lot before rounding up the other brats to his car. He unlocked the trunk so Mike and Will could throw their bags into it while Dustin and Lucas crammed into the car, Dustin in front like always.

            “Hey, what happened to your hand, Steve?” Mike asked once they were all crowed into the car. He leaned between the seats to get a closer look at Steve’s hand and he let it fall off the steering wheel and onto the seat next to him when the other kids moved to look.

            “I was cleaning out the trunk for you shitheads today and I grabbed the bat by the wrong end. It’s fine, so don’t worry about it,” Steve said, hoping the kids didn’t notice the wavering in his voice.

            “Why did you still have the bat in the trunk? Shouldn’t you have gotten rid of it a while ago?” Dustin asked, eyeing Steve.

            “I just haven’t gotten around to it. It’s not like I open the trunk of my car a lot. I just sort of forgot it was in there,” Steve explained. He barely managed to keep in a sigh of relief when his driveway came into view and he pulled up in front of the house. The kids immediately pilled out and ran to the front door, momentarily forgetting to question Steve about his hurt hand. Dustin yelled something back at him, probably about the locked door, and he figured he should probably get out of the car and let the shits into the house.

            He barely got out of the way before they plowed into the house, disappearing to god knows where. Steve rolled his eyes and shut the door. Venturing into his own house, he found the boys had already dumped everything off the living room coffee table and were setting up D&D. Steve stood there and watched them for a moment as they talked excitedly about their campaign. Hell, even Will looked happy to play. Steve will always be amazed at how quickly kids could bounce back from shit, especially the shit that happened to them. He only wished he was able to do that.

            “Okay shitheads, I’m going to go upstairs to take care of my hand. Hopper should be here soon with Jane, so just don’t tear apart my house while I’m not watching you. And when Billy and Max get here, send Billy to me if I’m not done yet,” Steve said, pushing himself away from the column that he was leaning against. The only response that he got was a thumbs up from Dustin, who didn’t even look up at him. Figuring it was good enough, Steve made his way to the stairs. There was a first aid kit in the bathroom on the main floor, but he didn’t need any of the kids to walk in and see his hand.

            He made sure to lock the bathroom door before digging the kit out from beneath the sink. Setting in on the counter next to the sink, Steve opened it before unwrapping his hand. The gauze that he had used was now blood stained on both sides of it and he dropped it onto the sink, figuring he’ll take care of it later. Then he got his first good look at his hand and he flinched. His whole palm was red and agitated. He probably needed stiches on the few long cuts, and maybe on some of the holes from where the spikes when straight into his hand, but he knew that he wouldn’t get them. He didn’t need the hassle he knew his parents would give him once they saw the hospital bill from it. It was just easier to deal with it and hope it heals.

            Making sure to keep his hand, which was still slightly bleeding after all this time, above the sink, Steve rummaged through the first aid kit to find some disinfectant, but of course there was none it there. Remembering that he had used the last of it when Billy beat his face it last time, Steve turned around and went to look in the closet where they kept the towels and miscellanies bathroom supplies. He opened the door and searched the shelf that was eye level to him. He found what he wanted way back in the corner, the plastic bottle of rubbing alcohol slightly dusty from not being used for a while. As he was trying to pull it out without knocking anything else over, something caught his eye. Sitting behind a bottle of extra shampoo that Steve had to move to get to the alcohol, was the box that he knew his dad kept his extra razor blades for his shaver. Steve stopped and stared at it for a long moment, his mind blank. His injured hand twitched and he quickly turned around to set the rubbing alcohol on the sink before facing the closet again.

            His hand shook as he reached for the box and pulled it out to the front of the shelf. He opened the cardboard lid and looked inside. The blades weren’t stacked up, but instead laying haphazardly in mini piles in the box. His fingers twitched as he took one out and inspected it. He had no idea why he was holding it, why he wanted to even. All he knew was that he wanted to hold it and his hand shook as he did. He wasn’t afraid, per say, but there was something in his head, something that was afraid of what he would do with it. Holding the blade in one hand, he looked down at his injured hand and remembered how the pain brought him back, how it helped him realize that what he had experienced was only a dream, how it was one of the first things that he had felt since the day the Gate closed. His dad wouldn’t notice if one was missing. There were enough in the box that it would be impossible to even know one was gone. He had no excuse if his dad did notice and question him about it, but he could only hope that he didn’t. Steve held it between his fingers, not sure what to do.

            A loud knock on the door startled Steve, making him stumble back and hit his lower back hard on the corner of the counter. He let out a loud hiss of pain and looked towards the door. Billy’s voice filtered through, saying, “Harrington, what the hell was that? The shits downstairs told me to come find you.”

            “Yeah, just a minute,” Steve said, quickly slipping the blade into his pocket before unlocking the door. Sure enough, only Billy stood on the other side and Steve quickly yanked him into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. “Sorry, I backed up into the counter when you knocked.”

            “Awe, did I scare little Harrington? I’m so very sorry,” Billy said, a grin back on his face. Steve saw him look away and study the bathroom that they were in. He could only guess what Billy thought of it, probably that it was too decorated and fancy for a bathroom. Steve totally agreed.

            “Since you can wrap hands pretty good, apparently, I was wondering if you could do it for me again, like you did at the diner,” Steve said, choosing to ignore the remark that Billy made. The other boy finally looked back at Steve and then down at his bleeding hand. “There’s the stuff behind you.”

            “I suppose I could help you, since I am already stuck in the bathroom with you. Just bring your fucking hand over here,” Billy said and Steve was honestly kind of surprised that he agreed to help him. But he listened and held his hand out to Billy, who grabbed it and roughly pulled so it was above the sink. He then reached for the rubbing alcohol that Steve had placed on the counter and twisted it open. Billy looked up and met Steve’s eyes. “So, this is going to hurt. Like, a lot.”

            “It’s fine, just do it,” Steve said and almost screamed when Billy poured the alcohol onto his hand. He had to bite his lip to keep from making a sound. The last thing either of them needed was the kids coming up to see what was happening if they heard him scream. Steve looked down at his hand and saw the blood run down his palm and into the sink. Billy quickly grabbed the towel that was hanging next to the sink and pressed it to Steve’s hand.

            “Here pretty boy, hold that there for me,” Billy said and Steve quickly did as he was told. The sting of the alcohol was still fresh and the rough towel made it feel worse, but Steve tried not to let Billy know that. He watched as the other boy unrolled the gauze and grabbed his hand back again. Billy was quiet as he wrapped Steve’s hand again, doing it almost expertly. When he was done, Billy looked up to say something, but Steve saw him freeze.

            It was only then that Steve noticed how close they had become. They were already standing close, so Billy could wrap his hand, but Steve must have subconsciously moved closer because now that Billy was looking up, they were only inches apart. Being this close to Billy, Steve could make out small details of his face that he hadn’t noticed before and he found that he didn’t entirely hate it. He knew that Billy was holding his breath because he couldn’t feel it on his face and Steve wondered how long he would be able to hold it. Steve’s eyes drifted briefly down to Billy’s lips, then back up to his eyes. Billy’s eyes were like a storm, multiple emotions showing at a time. The other boy also had what looked to be the beginning of bags under his eyes and it made Steve want to erase them because they didn’t belong on his face, not on Billy’s.

            Steve didn’t even notice Billy move his hand until the sunglasses that he had forgotten he was wearing were suddenly gone and Billy could finally see his eyes. It made everything seem real and Steve felt like he was in the open, out for Billy to see and dissect. He knew that Billy was studying his face, with the way that his eyes drifted away from his and had started searching the rest of his face. Steve could only guess how gruesome his face probably looked right now, with the sickening bruise that stretched across almost half of his face and the bags under his eyes that were so dark they almost blended in with the bruise. Billy’s eyes suddenly stopped at his lips and Steve couldn’t stop himself from subconsciously licking them, but he found them dry. As he watched him, Billy stuck his tongue out and ran it across his own lips and Steve found that his pants were growing tighter. A quick glance down between their bodies showed that Billy was feeling the same way. When the other boy finally looked back up at him, Steve felt like all the air in his body was suddenly gone and he couldn’t regain it. There was a look of pure hunger in Billy’s eyes and Steve found himself being drawn to it.

            “Steve! Can we order pizza? We’re hungry!” Dustin yelled from outside of the bathroom door while he banged loudly on it. Both boys jumped away from each other, Billy towards the closet and Steve to the counter, knocking the bottle of rubbing alcohol over. It flew to the floor, luckily lightly closed, but it still made a loud noise as it hit the tile. Dustin knocked again, saying, “What was that? Are you okay, Steve?”

            “Yeah, I’m fine, just go down stairs and I’ll be there in a minute to order pizza,” Steve yelled back, a little too loudly, but the boy didn’t seem to notice. Steve heard him let out a triumphant sound and barrel back down the stairs. When he was gone, the bathroom fell back into silence. Steve could feel his cheeks heating up and he looked up at Billy, but the other boy was turned away from him. Steve opened his mouth, but Billy beat him to it.

            “Go down stairs. I’ll clean this up and then meet you down there. Just don’t order some weird shit, like fucking pineapple, no matter what Max says. That shit is gross,” Billy said and Steve couldn’t help but notice that his voice sounded strained, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it.

            “Yeah, sure. Thanks for helping me with my hand,” Steve mumbled, unlocking the door and closing it behind himself.

            Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for dealing with the kids and headed downstairs, trying to forget what had happened in the bathroom and what he would have done if Dustin hadn’t interrupted them.


	6. Billy

When the door closed, Billy signed and collapsed back onto the counter. Whatever the hell just happened between him and Steve should not have fucking happened. Billy knew it, but he still got too close to Harrington. He knew that it was going to come back and bite him in the ass. He wasn’t allowed to have nice things, and he certainly didn’t wasn’t allowed to have Steve.

Billy busied himself with cleaning up the bathroom and tried to keep his mind off what had happened. The little shit head pounding on the door probably saved them both from doing something that they would regret. His pants were still tight from the thought of being so close to Steve and Billy quickly pushed his palm to the dick to readjust it. He really didn’t want to go downstairs and face Harrington. He wondered how long he’d be able to stay hidden up here until someone came to look for him, if anyone even did.

He threw the bloody bandages that were tied around Steve’s hand earlier in the garbage and put the bottle of rubbing alcohol back into the closet, where he assumed it went. Everything was going too quickly and he tried to slow his movements to give himself more time to figure out what the fuck to do, but it wasn’t enough. His head was still pounding and he regretted letting Harrington talk him into coming over. Dealing with an angry Max would be way easier than this shit. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to figure why the hell Steve wanted to be that close to him.

“Billy, pizza’s here!” Harrington yelled up the stairs and Billy nearly brained himself on the mirror. He hadn’t realized how close he was to the mirror and he quickly stumbled away. Dread filled his stomach when he thought about having to face Steve again, but he knew the other boy would come up and look for him if he didn’t get his ass down there. Fuck Harrington and his idiotic decision to help Billy.

Billy shoved the first aid kit under the sink, whether it belonged there or not, and took one last look at the mirror. He quickly wiped his hands over his face and smirked at himself. Yup, he was as ready for this shit as he could be. Billy pushed away from the sink and opened the door. A flurry of noise hit him in the face and he could hear the kids yelling and laughing. Max laughed somewhere, and Billy refused to acknowledge the warming in his chest when he heard his sister laugh like that for the first time in a long time. Billy knew that it would stop when he went down there, that none of the kids would trust him, but they trusted Steve. They believed in Steve’s decisions, for some ungodly reason because everyone knows that he doesn’t tend to make the best choices, especially when it came to Billy. He knew that the kids would put up with him because of Steve. He knew that Max would tolerate being in the same room as him because of Steve.

Billy slowly walked down the stairs, afraid to make a noise to alert to his presence. It was just easier if he snuck into places without anyone noticing. When he got to the bottom step, Billy stopped and looked into the kitchen. There were a few different boxes of pizza on the island in the middle of the kitchen and the kids were all crowed around, grabbing for slices to throw on their plates. He saw Dustin try to reach for a slice in the closed box closest to Steve, but the older boy swatted his hand away. Dustin said something to him that Billy couldn’t hear, but Steve just shook his head and set the younger boy with a look of a disappointed parent until Dustin finally huffed and turned his attention to another box. Steve looked up when he deemed his pizza was safe and his eyes almost immediately found Billy’s over the heads of the kids and across two large rooms. Billy was expecting to see hatred in the eyes, to see regret and disgust for what had happened in the bathroom. Hell, he was expecting Steve to yell and scream at him to get out of his house. But there wasn’t any of that. Instead, Steve’s face broke out into a smile, not one that he had seen him use for Nancy and Jonathan at school, but one that looked genuine and real. It almost knocked Billy onto his ass and he had to grip the stair’s railing to keep steady. Steve brought his hand up and gestured for Billy to come into the kitchen.

Billy stepped off the last step and slowly made his way to the kitchen, the smell of pizza making him realize how hungry he was. Him and Steve hadn’t finished their food at the diner and he hadn’t eaten since the morning of Friday, so the pizza smelled heavenly. When he stepped into the kitchen, Mike saw him first and went silent, the other kids quickly following. Billy let his eyes wander cautiously over the kids, noticing a girl with curly hair that he didn’t remember ever seeing before. She looked at him in a different way than the others, like he didn’t just ruin the whole fucking world.

“Billy, what did I say about hurting Steve again? You promised you’d leave him alone!” Max accused, almost as soon as he walked into the kitchen. Billy squinted his eyes at her in confusion.

“What the hell are you talking about? Since when did I hurt poor little Harrington?” Billy asked, honestly confused to what she was talking about. He tried to remember what he could have done, but there was nothing. He looked over at Harrington for help and then noticed the bruise on his face again. Fuck. The kids thought he did that to Steve.

“I already said that he didn’t hit me. I did it to myself when I fell out of bed earlier. If he hit me, I wouldn’t have invited him to my fucking house,” Steve said, glaring down at the kids. Billy could tell that he was really trying to convince the kids to believe him and he didn’t know why he was doing it. They’ll think he did it no matter what and it would save a lot of trouble if Steve just let them believe it.

“Believe whatever the fuck you want, but I didn’t hit him,” Billy said, crossing his arms over his chest and moving his eyes to look above the heads of the kids. He felt uncomfortable and he could feel the beginnings of an attack. His hands were shaking and he dug them deeper into his arms to keep them still.

“Okay, you shitheads got your pizza, now go to the living room. The movie is already set up,” Steve said and Billy closed his eyes as they passed him. Sometimes Steve really was an angel. It only helped to emphasize how he was too good for Billy.

Billy almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand grab the bottom of his shirt and his eyes snapped open. He looked down to see the mystery girl looking up at him with wide eyes. It was easy to make it look like he was annoyed and he said, “What the hell do you want, girl?”

“You’re Steve’s friend, Billy, right?” she asked and Billy’s eyes widened. How the hell did she know who he was? She called him Steve’s friend, not Max’s brother. That had to mean something.

“Where did you hear that?” Billy asked, narrowing his eyes again.

“Hopper said that he saw Steve with someone in an alley earlier today. He said that it was you. Friends help friends, and you helped my friend, so thank you. You’re my friend now too,” the girl said before letting go of his shirt and slowly following the rest of the kids into the living room. Billy looked after her and then looked back at Steve for explanation. He didn’t notice that his attack was completely gone.

“Sorry about that. That was Jane, Hopper’s kid. She can be sort of weird, but she means good,” Steve said. He gestured for Billy to come up to the island. “Here, help me eat this pizza now. I’m hungry as hell.”

“What’s this Harrington? You bought us our own pizza? You really do know how to romance a man,” Billy said, freezing when he realized what he had just said. He quickly looked up at Steve, who wasn’t looking at him, but Billy could see a blush darkening his cheeks and he didn’t move away from Billy. Maybe it was a good sign.

“Did you not just see how the kids demolished literally three other pizzas? I knew that if I didn’t get us our own that we wouldn’t get any,” Steve explained, then he looked up and leveled Billy with a look that he had never seen before, something that was confident. “At least now I know how to romance you, Hargrove.”

Now it was Billy’s turn to blush, which he quickly covered up with a flurry of movements as he exaggerated grabbing a piece of pizza from the box and shoving it into his mouth. He heard Steve laugh and he looked back up to see the other boy reach for his own slice and take a bite from it. A huge gob got stuck on the corner of Steve’s mouth and Billy couldn’t help but snicker, which caused him to inhale too much food down his throat and almost choke. Steve, the son of a bitch, didn’t even try to help him as he was choking to death. Instead the fucker laughed harder and he had to brace himself on the island to keep from falling. It warmed something in Billy’s chest and when he was finally able to breath again, he threw his half-eaten slice of pizza at Steve. Sure enough, it hit its mark and Steve froze as the pizza slid out of his hair, down the side of his face, and onto the pizza box. The look on Steve’s face actually made Billy laugh, the first time in a long time, and he barely managed to dodge the pizza that was thrown at him.

It didn’t take long for Steve to start laughing along with him and both boys leaned over the island to keep upright. Billy couldn’t remember the last time he laughed this hard and soon his sides began to hurt, but it didn’t stop. He thinks that he’s laughing less about the pizza now and more because of the simple fact that Steve was laughing along with him. Steve, who maybe isn’t so perfect and out of his league as he thought.

Someone cleared their throat from the doorway and Billy immediately silenced, spinning around to see Max standing in the doorway, watching them. Billy felt his heart drop and any form of happiness that he was previously feeling vanished. Max was standing there, giving him a weird look and it made him want to sink into the floor. It was like she was accusing him of something, and who knows what the fuck it was this time. Steve was behind him, still coming down from laughing. He seemed to finally realize that Billy wasn’t laughing with him anymore and he finally stopped. Some part of Billy was happy that the other boy finally shut up, but he hardly noticed. He was still staring at Max, waiting for her to start yelling at him or some shit.

“Max, what are you doing? Lucas is waiting for you,” Jane asked, coming up behind Max. The new girl didn’t even look into the kitchen at them but kept her attention on Max. Billy could tell that she was paying attention to them, but he was grateful that she wasn’t outright doing it.

“I was just coming in for something to drink,” Max said, still not taking her eyes off Billy. His heart was pounding, and he was just fucking sick of it. Without a word to anyone, Billy pushed past Max and almost raced to the patio door that he had seen earlier. He threw the door open with more force than he knew he should have used and slammed it equally as hard. He ignored Steve calling his name.

There was a pool outside, of course there fucking was. Harrington really had everything. Billy stalked over to a plastic pool chair and kicked it as hard as he could. There was a crack, but he couldn’t find it in him to give a shit. If Harrington wanted to get angry at him over some shit like that, then so be it. It would be an easy way to get Harrington to leave him the fuck alone and kick him out of his nice, fancy house. He should have done it as soon as Billy stepped foot through the doorway.

Billy kicked the chair again and sent it flying further down the patio. Familiar rage fueled him and he looked around for something to break, something to throw and destroy. A really shitty looking fake plant was sitting in the center of a deck table and Billy picket it up, spinning and throwing it somewhere he didn’t see. It didn’t matter to him where it was, just as long as it fucking broke. The rage simmered beneath his skin, waiting to spill over like it always had. He wanted to punch something, to break a nose, anything. He didn’t give a fuck. There just had to be something that could help him, help get the rage out so he can be decent again. So Steve doesn’t look at him like he’s a fucking monster again.

The thought of Steve suddenly brought back the night at the Byers’ house and what it was like to be leaning over Steve, his blood on his hands. He regretted it as soon as he had done it, but it hardly registered with him when he was doing it. All he saw was anger and he let it control his actions, just like he always did. He always let his anger and rage control what he did, whether he wanted to or not. It was one thing that he had inherited from Neil and it made him hate it even more. He wanted to get rid of it, to cut it out and throw it away.

Billy walked to the other side of the pool, back facing the house. He knew that the shits were probably watching him and he was only cementing what they thought of him. But he didn’t care anymore, not when Max saw him like this. It wasn’t worth changing who he was. So Billy dug into his pocket and pulled out the switchblade that he had started keeping there when Neil really started to beat on him. He would never use it against him, never Neil, because if he made a mistake then he would be dead. No, he just kept it because it made him feel powerful. If he had the switchblade, then others won’t fuck with him. It was as easy as that. Neil didn’t know he had it and neither did Max. He never pulled it out unless he really needed to made someone scared of him. It was saved for people who were like Neil, for people who would call him faggot and queer, for people who made him angry. But mostly, Billy kept it as a reminder for himself. A reminder that he would never be brave enough to use it.

He looked down at it in his hand and pressed the button, the blade swinging out at an alarming rate. Billy turned it in his hand, the blade catching the light of the outside lights. The metal was clean, looking like it had never been used. He ran his thumb along the blade, breath catching slightly when it sliced through the pad of his finger. Drawing his finger back, Billy inspected the blood and watched as it ran down his thumb. He didn’t even realize that he was gripping the blade as hard as he was until there was a hand over his. Billy jumped, automatically swinging his other hand around.

“Woah, hold your shit, man,” Steve said, barely getting out of the way of Billy’s fist, letting go of his other hand. Billy stared at him with wide eyes, quickly stumbling away from Steve, but instead of concrete beneath his feet, there was nothing. Billy wildly flared his arms in panic as he fell backwards, the switchblade flying out of his hand. It was like everything was in slow motion, Steve quickly reaching out to Billy, rare panic in his eyes as Billy fell into the pool.

The world was suddenly cold and it sent shocks through Billy’s body. He had managed to close his eyes before his head went underwater and it was all dark. For a moment it was like he was suspended in space, like there was nothing around him. No Steve, no Max, no Neil, no demons that were haunting him. It was nice, a peace that Billy hadn’t felt since he was a child. He didn’t want to leave, he wanted to stay here forever, but then his lungs started to burn from lack of air and he could feel himself getting light headed. So, he moved his arms, finding the bottom of the pool with his feet and pushed himself towards the surface. When he broke the surface, his hair was plastered to the sides of his face and he had to shake it out of his eyes. A smile broke across his face and he was ready to laugh at himself. He was expecting to hear Steve laughing at his idiocy, but that changed when he finally opened his eyes. Steve was staring at him with wide eyes, like he wasn’t expecting him to come back out of the pool. His face was a mix of pure panic and fear. There was no smile on his face and he was as close to the edge of the pool as he could be without actually passing it.

Billy swam up to him and rested his head on the edge of the pool. He looked up at Steve and asked, "What's up, Harrington? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

“Could you just please get out of the pool?” Steve asked quietly and it made Billy angry. He should have known that Harrington didn’t want him in his pool. Hell, he didn’t even want him in his house.

“Fine, whatever,” Billy said angrily, grabbing the edge of the pool and hauling himself up. His cloths weighed him down and made it more difficult, but he managed and then he was standing up, looking down at Steve, who was still kneeling on the ground and staring at the pool. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t in there long enough to ruin it. You don’t have to drain it or anything.”

Billy was expecting some sort of snarky comment from Steve, but instead the other boy moved to sit on his ass and folded his knees up to his chest. Without looking up at Billy, Steve said, “I thought you were gone.”

“Where the hell would I have gone? It’s just a fucking pool. Sure, I’m probably going to get sick now that you weren’t like a normal person and covered the pool up, but I’m fine,” Billy said, confused as to what Steve meant. Where the hell would he have gone? When Steve didn’t reply, Billy let out a louder than necessary sigh and fell to the ground next to him.

“Just, you’ve heard about the girl who went missing and then it was found out that she was killed by the lab, right?” Steve finally asked, still not looking up at Billy.

“Yeah, course I did. It’s the one interesting thing that has ever happened around here,” Billy said, then cringed. He could only imagine how shitty that was.

“She was a friend of Nancy’s. They were both here that night. I was too focused on Nancy and she was too focused on me that we didn’t even notice Barb. She was out here by the pool when she disappeared,” Steve said and Billy immediately got it. Steve felt guilty for the missing girl, that’s why he was so freaked out when he fell into the pool. He had remembered what had happened before and he was afraid it was going to happen again. Billy wanted to wrap the other boy in his arms, tell him that he wasn’t going anywhere and that they were both safe, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. So he did the next best thing.

Billy leaned to the side and let his weight rest against Steve. He could feel Steve go stiff next to him, but neither boy moved. Without looking at him, Billy said, “Don’t think that I’d disappear so easily. I’m going to put up one hell of a fight if anyone tries to take me, you can count on that.”

Steve huffed out a little chuckle and that was when Billy decided that they were going to be okay. They were both going to be fine. As the boys sat there, it finally began to sink in to Billy that he was wet and it was almost winter and he was fucking freezing. He opened his mouth to say something to Steve but stopped when he saw the snowflake float down and land on the water in the pool. It immediately vanished, but it was replaced by another and another. When Billy looked up at the sky, more flakes fell down and he felt one land on his nose. Without taking his eyes off of the sky, he elbowed Steve until the other boy finally looked up too. Billy heard him let out a little gasp as he saw the snowflakes and he opened his mouth. Billy couldn’t help but look over and stare at the other boy as he tried to catch flakes on his mouth. Despite the nasty bruise and the gross hair, Billy couldn’t help but find himself thinking that Steve was fucking gorgeous. The other boy didn’t notice him staring yet and Billy quickly looked away before he could.

“This is cute and all, Harrington, but I’m freezing my balls off here,” Billy said and Steve’s head snapped down to look at him, like he had completely forgotten that Billy was there.

“Shit! I forgot! Come on, I’ve got some clothes for you,” Steve said, standing up and helping to pull Billy to his own feet. Both boys walked into the house, Billy ignoring the looks that he was getting from the kids and followed Steve up to stairs.

They walked down the hall and stopped in front of a door that Billy assumed lead to Steve’s room. When Steve opened the door and turned on the light, he made his way to the dresser in the corner. Billy felt like he was intruding, but he wasn’t about to stand out in the hallway. As he walked into Steve’s room, he examined every aspect of it. To be honest, it wasn’t too much different from his own. The main difference was that there was the bat with the nails leaning against the desk and the wall next to it was covered in holes. Billy noticed that Steve was purposefully not looking in that direction and he wasn’t going to ask him about it.

“Here are some dry clothes for you. You can just change in here and bring your wet clothes downstairs. I’ll throw them in the dryer,” Steve said, handing Billy a bundle of clothes. Billy stared down at them, then up at Steve as he exited the bedroom. Billy kept his gaze on Steve’s back until the door was closed. There were so many questions running through his head, questions that he had wanted to ask Steve, but couldn’t. He didn’t want to ruin whatever they had going for them, not now. So, he concentrated on changing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just a little more angst to deal with. I promise that the next chapter will have more fluff in it!


	7. Steve

            After leaving Billy alone in his room to change, Steve quickly headed towards the stairs. He had to make sure that the brats were still okay and they would help him get his mind off of what had just happened outside. His body was still shaking with fear every time he remembered Billy falling into the pool and vanishing from his sight. He really didn’t need more nightmares to go along with the ones that he already had.

            As soon as Steve stepped down from the last step and onto solid ground, he was immediately bombarded by little bodies. Dustin was first, barely stopping himself from running straight into Steve. He looked up at Steve from beneath his curls and demanded, “What the hell happened out there? Billy didn’t hurt you, did he? Cause if he did, he’ll have to deal with all of us.”

            “Language, kid, and don’t worry, any of you. Billy didn’t hurt me. I just scared him and he fell back into the pool. No big deal,” Steve said, putting his hands on Dustin’s shoulders and spinning him around. “Now let’s go finish your movie. Maybe if you’re good, I’ll let you watch another.”

            “Come on Dustin, listen to Steve! I want to watch Ghostbusters tonight too,” Lucas said, quickly following Max into the living room again. Dustin gave Steve one last look over his shoulder and Steve smiled down at him before shoving the boy towards where the others had gone. Soon, he heard the movie playing again and he took the chance to go back into the kitchen.

            The slice of pizza that Billy had thrown at him was still on the counter and the one that he had thrown was on the floor next to where Billy had been standing. Steve quickly picked both up and dumped them into the garbage before grabbing a wet washcloth to clean up the sauce and chees that had gotten everywhere. The pizza box was still open and Steve grabbed a slice of mildly cold pizza. Leaning against the island, Steve surveyed the now kitchen, still littered with empty pizza boxes. His eyes caught the pool through the kitchen window and he quickly looked away, turning around just in time to see Billy walk into the kitchen and he forgot how to chew for a minute. It was an understatement if he said that Billy looked good in his clothes. He looked fucking hot. Granted, it was only an old shirt and pair of sweatpants, but still, Steve wouldn’t mind seeing him in his clothes more often.

            “Didn’t I tell you not to let Max order pineapple on the pizza?” Billy said when he walked in. He grabbed a slice of the cold pizza and took a large bite.

            “What the hell are you talking about?” Steve asked, honestly confused. Where the hell did that come from?

            “I just looked in the living room and Max had pizza with fucking pineapple on it. I thought I told you not to let her order that shit,” Billy said around a mouthful of pizza and Steve gave him a gross look, then he remembered.

            “Well, she mentioned it and then the other kids wanted to try it. I didn’t see the problem with letting them try it,” Steve said, shrugging as he took another bite of his pizza. Damn, it was good pizza.

            “Just don’t blame me when the kids fucking vomit or some shit,” Billy said, pulling out one of the chairs that were at the island and sat down heavily.

            “Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad. It’s just pineapple,” Steve said, still not understanding what the problem was. Billy looked at him before standing up and opening some of the other boxes. When he finally seemed to find what he had wanted, he pulled out a slice of pizza with pineapple on it and held it out to Steve. Steve grabbed it, not believing Billy that there was any pizza that was bad. He made sure to look Billy in the eyes as he took a large bite, double checking to make sure that there was a square of pineapple on it. As soon as he actually tasted the pizza, Steve raced to the garbage and promptly spit it out. Okay, he believed Billy. That shit was the nastiest thing that he had ever tasted.

            “See, I fucking told you, Harrington. You should listen to me more often,” Billy said, a genuine smirk on his face as he watched Steve. Steve glared at him from over the trashcan as he attempted to spit out the rest of the pizza.

            “How the hell can Max like that stuff? It literally tastes like shit,” Steve said, tossing the slice into the trash also. He wanted nothing to do with the pizza.

            “She’s always been a weird kid. That used to be the only pizza that she would eat, so whenever I got her out of the house in California, we would go for pizza and I had to buy two whole fucking ones. She got her shitty pineapple and I got the good stuff. She always ate it all, though, so I can’t be too mad,” Billy said and Steve saw something change in him. The other boy leaned against the counter and his gaze seemed to go somewhere else, like he was remembering something.

            “Do you miss California?” Steve asked, pushing the boxes of pizza out of his way so he could lean further on the island. His question snapped Billy out of whatever daze he was in and he looked back at Steve.

            “Oh yeah, man, every fucking day. I miss everything about it; the nice weather, the people you see, the music scene. Hell, I even miss the fucking schools there. It’s way better than living in the middle of bum fuck nowhere,” Billy said, smiling back at Steve. “As soon as I graduate, I’m ditching this place and high tailing it back there in my Camaro.”

            “Hey, Hawkins isn’t that bad,” Steve said, feigning hurt. He knew that this town sucked and it was probably even worse for someone who had moved here from a city.

            “You can only say that because you have literally never been outside of Hawkins. The weather here sucks,” Billy said as he gestured to out the window, where it had started to heavily snow, “everyone knows each other’s business, and you can never find a place just by yourself. In California, man, it’s awesome.”

            Steve moved his head to the side, trying to imagine what it was like. Sure, he’s seen pictures and imagines from movies, but it always looks different in real like. If Billy’s talking about it like it was so amazing, maybe it really was. Steve turned around and looked out at the snow, trying to imagine what life would be like if he had never had to deal with the snow or cold again. He was pretty okay with that.

            “Believe it or not, I want to leave too, after I graduate,” Steve said and Billy looked at him like that was the last thing he expected to hear. Steve shrugged. “What? It’s true.”

            “And why would the King of Hawkins want to leave his little home?” Billy said and Steve knew that he was trying to get Steve riled up, but it wasn’t working.

            “I’m just sick of it, for similar reasons as to you. Literally everyone in town knew when Nancy and I broke up and I hate that. I want to go somewhere that no one knows me and I can just be me, instead of the perfect person that everyone seems to think I am. Plus, I just want to get out of the cold and go somewhere that the temperature never gets bellow sixty,” Steve explained.

            “And why would people not see you as perfect, pretty boy? I mean, you did have the girl and basketball, but everyone still seems to fawn over you. Hell, the Henderson kid seems to think that a fucking angel was sent down to put you on earth,” the other boy asked. He grabbed another slice of pizza and shoved it into his mouth.

            “Trust me, I’m far from perfect. I know you saw the holes in my wall,” Steve said and he could tell that Billy remembered by the look that was suddenly on his face. Steve laughed humorlessly and turned away from Billy to the fridge. He needed a fucking drink. “That should tell you how imperfect I really am.”

            Billy was silent behind him, not saying anything and it made Steve unnerved. Billy was always running his mouth, especially in situations like this that would give him a chance to be a smartass to him. Steve chose to ignore it, though, and focused on finding something to drink. He knew that his dad had shitty beer in the fridge somewhere that hasn’t been toughed in months. He never drank it, so he wouldn’t notice that it was gone. Steve finally found it, shoved in the far back corner of the fridge, hiding behind a jar of pickles. He grabbed the beer, then thought for a moment before deciding _fuck it_ and grabbed the pickles as well.

            When he was turning back around, Billy finally said, “Well, if you don’t piss me off, maybe I’ll consider bringing you with when I head back to California.”

Steve froze, half turned around at the offer. He had no idea what to think. Sure, there’s been some sort of weird tension between them lately and he thinks that their relationship is getting better, but he hadn’t thought it was to the point in which Billy would offer to go anywhere outside of Hawkins with him. Steve finished turning around and looked at Billy, mostly to see if he was joking or not. Oddly enough, the other boy had his head down and he was looking at the counter in front of him very intensely. Even through his hair that has fallen in his face, Steve could see the red blush that had painted Billy’s cheeks. Steve swallowed, trying to wet his mouth that had suddenly gone dry, and dropped the twelve-pack of beer and jar of pickles on the island, startling Billy and making him look up.

            “Sure, sounds like fun, as long as you promise not to get mad at me one day and decide to kill me and throw my body in a ditch somewhere,” Steve said, adding the last part to made Billy feel better. He would only imagine what it was like for him to say something like that, especially to Steve and especially when the kids were in the other room, where they could possible hear him.

            Billy looked mildly confused, looking at Steve, then down to the beer and the pickles. Billy quickly shook himself out of whatever stupor he was in and smirked at Steve. “Don’t worry, that’s too cliché. If I was going to dump your body anywhere, it would be somewhere fun and exciting, just like me. Now, throw me a fucking beer.”

            Steve laughed and opened the case, tossing the beer that Billy wanted to him before grabbing one for himself. He shoved the case and the pickles closer the Billy and sat down in one of the seats next to Billy. Together, the two of them knocked back the beers and downed the pickles. They sat in mostly silence, it only broken when one of them needed to make a smartass remark. Steve liked it. After the day that they had, it was nice to just sit and enjoy a drink with someone. After the Upside Down, Steve lost the people that he would normally drink with, so it was a change to not be drinking alone again, but he liked it. Even if it was with Billy.

            Steve didn’t know how long they were sitting there, but it was long enough for them to finish the jar of pickles and for the case of beer to only have a handful left. Both boys were silent when Max suddenly appeared in the doorway, watching them for a moment. Steve noticed her first and he gave her a lopsided smirk. He had no idea if he was drunk yet or not. It sure felt like he was buzzed. Billy, who was in better condition than Steve even though he had more empty cans next to him, noticed Max after Steve smiled. He turned around to look behind him and stared at Max, giving no other sign that he noticed her there. Max looked at the two of them, then down at the empty beer cans and the jar that once had pickles.

            “And you say that I have shitty taste in food,” Max said, crossing her arms. Steve noticed her swearing, but he didn’t have the energy to get mad at her for it.

            “What’s up, Max? Need something?” Steve asked, smiling at her. He could only imagine how he looked right now, but honestly, he didn’t really care. He was buzzed and had good company for once, so he was pretty fucking happy.

            “Dustin mentioned that you had Mad Max somewhere. Lucas, Mike, and Will have never seen it, so I was wondering if we could watch it,” she asked, still looking at the two of them suspiciously. Steve could tell that Billy was uncomfortable and he was no longer staring at Max.

            “What time is it?” Steve asked, mostly to himself and he looked at the clock on the wall. It was only about 9:30. “Did you finish Ghostbusters already?”

            “No, we decided not to watch it. I’ve already seen it, so have the rest of them, obviously. We decided to watch something else and Mad Max came up,” Max explained.

            “Why are you asking me instead of one of the other shitheads, like Dustin?” Steve asked, realizing that it was weird. Normally Dustin would be all over him if he wanted something.

            Max’s eyes darted away from Steve and over the Billy briefly and Steve got it. None of the other kids wanted to come into the kitchen because Billy was there. Well, that was complete bullshit and Steve didn’t like it. He felt Billy shift next to him to grab another beer.

            “Fine, you can watch the movie, but only under one condition. Billy and I get to come in and watch it with you,” Steve said and Max’s snapped her eyes back to him, surprised. He shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to see her eyes narrow. “Go ahead and tell the others. If they don’t like it, you guys can watch Ghostbusters again.”

            Max silently left the kitchen and it didn’t take long before there were protests coming from the living room. Dustin was the loudest, of course, but Steve ignored what he was saying, even though it was straight out rude. Instead, he looked back and Billy and smiled at him, trying his best to make the other boy comfortable. He stood up from his chair and said, “I’m going to go up to my room to get the movie. Stay here and I’ll be right back.”

            Before Steve could take a step, a hand was wrapped around his wrist, holding him in place. He looked over his shoulder at Billy, who was staring back up at him. His clear blue eyes searched Steve’s, like he was looking for a question. “Why are you being so nice to me? God knows I don’t deserve it.”

            Steve thought for a moment, his brain sluggish from the alcohol. After a moment, he replied, “Because you need it.”

            Billy’s had went slack and Steve took the opportunity to slip out of his grasp. He sent Billy one last smile over his shoulder and quickly went up the stairs. The movie was in his bedside table and he grabbed, made sure that the tape was actually in the sleeve, and basically ran back down the stairs. He stopped briefly in kitchen to basically pull Billy into the living room. While he was upstairs, the kids must have finally came to terms that Billy was going to be around for the light and they were quiet when the two of them walked into the living room. Steve stopped in the doorway and surveyed the living room in front of him.

            It didn’t take long for the kids to wreck the whole room and make it theirs. The blankets that Steve’s mom kept folded up in the side tables were all out, creating a roof to the large fort that the kids made. Steve had to give it to them, he was really surprised at what they can do. The fort was built using two of the chairs and the two large couches that were in in front of the living room. Steve could see inside of the fort and saw that they had stolen all of the pillows that they could find and made it as comfy as they could in the fort, which was big enough for all of them to fit. Dustin peeked out of the fort, saw Billy, made a face, and disappeared back inside. Steve rolled his eyes and walked to the TV.

            “You better not tell any of your parents that I let you watch this. If they knew, they probably wouldn’t let you come back to my house,” Steve said, giving all of the kids the most serious look that he could, which he didn’t really succeed at.

            “Yeah, sure, whatever, just put the movie in,” Mike said from where he was curled up next to Jane. Steve stuck his tongue out at the kid, but did has he was told. After sticking the tape into the player, he stood up and walked back to Billy, who hadn’t moved from his spot yet.

            “Looks like the kids took advantage of about every sitting surface in the room,” Steve commented, still staring at the fort. Damn, it really was impressive.

            “Yeah, looks like they did,” Billy replied, quiet so the kids didn’t hear him. Steve huffed and looked at the remaining seat: the loveseat. Billy must have seen where he was looking, because he was suddenly there, lounging back in the seat with his normal smirk on his face. He patted his lap. “Well, what are you waiting for, Harrington? Come sit on my lap.”

            Steve didn’t move. The seat was not big enough for the two of them to sit side-by-side, so he would probably have to sit on Billy’s laugh. The thought made him blush, but honestly, he was too drunk to care. So, before he could back out, Steve sauntered over to the chair and sat down, half on Billy’s lap and half on the remaining seat, his back leaning against the area between the backrest and the arm of the chair. He’s not going to lie, it was pretty comfy and by the way that Billy suddenly went rigid beneath him told him that the other boy wasn’t expecting him to actually sit down. It made him smirk and he didn’t look back at Billy.

            “Wow, this isn’t a very bad seat, actually. You can see the TV around the fort,” Steve said innocently, moving his hips to get into a more comfortable position and the movement made Billy let out a choked groan and Steve say his hand tighten on the armrest next to him. It made Steve smile again and he couldn’t help but move, this time purposefully grinding his hips back. It earned him another noise out of Billy. When he went to do it again, one of Billy’s hands were suddenly resting on his hip, holding him still. It sent a rush up his spin and ignited something in his drunk brain.

            “I swear to got Harrington, if you keep doing that I’ll do something that you don’t want to happen in front of the shitheads,” Billy said lowly into Steve’s ear, making him shiver.

            Steve looked over his shoulder at Billy and gave him the most innocent look that he could manage. “What am I doing? I’m just trying to find a comfortable position to sit.”

            “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Harrington,” Billy said again, his fingers squeezing into his hip even harder. Steve didn’t try to stop Billy as he pushed his shirt up and put his hand on the bare skin of his hip again. The contact made Steve shiver and he leaned back against Billy’s chest. He could feel Billy’s hair tickling the side of his face and there was a ghost of Billy’s lips on his neck. All he wanted to do was reach back and pull the other boys face to his. And he wasn’t even sure if that was the alcohol talking or not.

            Just as he was going to do exactly that, the fort erupted in roar as something happened on screen. Apparently the kids were enjoying the movie. Steve could have almost kissed them all because they just stopped him from doing something that he wasn’t sure would have been a smart move. It must have also shocked Billy out of whatever he was going to do as well, because the was leaning away from Steve’s neck and rested against the back of the chair. Steve was sad that the heat was gone, but Billy never moved his hand off his hip, which was enough for Steve. So, he relaxed up against Billy and focused on the movie playing on the TV in front of them.

            It was a nice way to end the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there was a little fluff to break up the angst that's been happening so far. I've never written fluff before, so hopefully it was alright.  
> Until next time...


	8. Billy

              The first thing that Billy noticed was how much his back and arm fucking hurt. He didn’t want to open his eyes, didn’t want to see why the hell they hurt so bad, so he shifted to try and get some of the pressure that was on them off. He had no idea what the fuck was on him, but it was big and warm and curled in his lap. When he moved, whatever it was made a whining noise and buried itself further into his chest. Hair tickled Billy’s nose and he finally opened his eyes to see what the fuck was on him. When he looked down, he almost jumped right out of the seat.

              Steve was curled up in his lap, legs thrown over the arm rest and ass squished between Billy’s thigh and the chair. His head was resting against Billy’s chest and Billy’s arm was wrapped around his shoulder. He was honestly very confused to what the hell was happening, but then he looked up to see the fort and the blue screen on the TV and it all came back to him. Steve had dragged him into the living room, despite the kids’ protests, and they must have fallen asleep watching Mad Max. The memory of Steve grinding on his lap also came back to him and he had to shift again, which earned another groan out of Steve, but still not waking him.

              A throat clearing drew Billy’s attention away from Steve and he looked up to see the mystery girl, Jane, standing there staring at him. Making sure to keep quiet, Billy asked, “What the hell are you looking at?”

              “We’re the only ones awake, so I was wondering if you could make breakfast,” Jane said, completely taking Billy by surprise. The last thing he was expecting to come out of the girl’s mouth was the request of food. Billy opened his mouth the tell her to fuck off, then he closed it. She wasn’t looking at him like she hated his guts. She wasn’t even looking down at Steve in his lap. Instead, she kept her eyes locked onto Billy’s, not backing down.

              “Fine, let’s go to the kitchen. If I’m doing this, you’re helping,” Billy finally said, relenting to Jane. A smile broke across her face and she quickly nodded her head. Now that that’s over, he had to figure out how the hell to get up without waking Steve.

              As it turned out, it wasn’t all that hard. With the bruises under his eyes, it’s obvious that Steve’s been sleeping like shit lately and now it seems like it’s caught up to him. He didn’t even move when Billy carefully picked him up in his arms and stood up. Billy sat Steve back down in the chair, where he immediately curled up and let out a sigh. Billy didn’t notice that he was standing there staring at him until Jane gently pulled at the bottom of the shirt he was wearing and he quickly looked away, a blush spreading on his face from getting caught. He followed Jane to the kitchen, where she immediately went for the fridge. Billy watched as she opened the freezer and pulled out a box of Eggos. What the fuck? She dragged him out of the chair and away from Steve for fucking Eggos? Nope, no way.

              Billy walked over to her and yanked the frozen waffles out or her hands. She made a noise of protest and reached up to try and grab them from his hands, but he just held in up high enough so that she couldn’t reach it and looked down at her. “If you want breakfast, I’m making a real breakfast. You are not eating some shitty frozen waffles.”

              She seemed to be okay with that answer, because she let him put the box back into the freezer. Once they were back where they belong, Billy started to rummage through Harrington’s cupboards to find what he needed to make breakfast. He managed to find a bowl big enough for the pancake batter, which he figured that he would have to make a lot of. None of the cupboards yielded pancake mix, which meant that he had to go through the trouble of making his own. Great, hopefully Harrington has all of the ingredients for it. Surprisingly enough, he did and Billy set them all down on the island, in front of Jane.

              “Hey kiddo, since you’re hear, you’re going to help me make breakfast,” Billy said and Jane quickly nodded her head, climbing up onto the chair so she could see better. After Billy explained to her what to do, she immediately went to work cracking eggs as he tried to find more to make for breakfast. Harrington had an alarming amount of eggs, so he was going to make scrambled eggs once Jane was done with the batter and he also managed to find a few sausage links in the freezer, but not enough for them and the other shitheads. Harrington also didn’t have anything to drink other than the beer that was left over from last night and a half empty carton of milk. A quick look at the clock let him know that he would probably have time to get to the store and back before any of them were awake.

              “Hey, you fee like coming with me to get some more food? I’ve seen how Harrington and Max can eat, and I can only imagine what the rest of them are like,” Billy asked Jane and she looked up from the batter, which looked like it was done. He had to give her props, she did a pretty good job.

              “Yeah,” she said, dropping the whisk into the batter and wiping her hands on her pants. Billy rolled his eyes, not finding it in him to care what the girl did, and grabbed the batter to put into the fridge until they came back. He also stopped long enough to scribble a quick note to Steve, telling him where they went just in case woke up before they got back. He found his keys on the island, beneath a napkin that wasn’t thrown away last night and his wallet that was next to the fridge. He found Jane already at the door, pulling her shoes on and she watched him while he yanked on his boots. He caught a look at himself in the mirror and winced. His hair looked like a rat’s nest and a quickly comb through with his fingers did little to help, so he just pulled it back and tied it with the band that was around his wrist. The grey sweatpants and black shirt that Harrington had given him to wear worked fine to go out it. Overall, he didn’t look too bad.

              As soon as Billy opened the front door, a blast of cold air hit him, sending a shiver down his spine and he was grateful that he had grabbed his jacket before he came to Harrington’s house yesterday. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Jane had her jacket on before he shooed her out of the house and closed the door behind them. Their feet crunched in the freshly fallen snow and Billy had to stop to just stare. They didn’t get snow in California and since this was the first time that he has been out of the state, it was also the first time that he has ever seen snow. It was beautiful, white and shining like a million diamonds. Snowflakes fell from the sky, fluffy and soft. It hung off of the tree branches and covered all the dead leaves that were on the ground. It was like their own little wonderland and Billy forgot about all of the shit in his life as he stood there.

              A giggle caught his attention and Billy snapped his head back down, moving his gaze from the sky and back to the girl. There was a wide grin on her face and her face was already turning pink from the cold. She was staring at Billy, obviously laughing at something he was doing. When he glared at her, she tipped her head back and stuck her tongue out, catching snowflakes in her open mouth. Billy felt himself blush when he realized that his lips were wet and she was probably laughing because he was just doing the same think without noticing. He gently shoved her to the car, not hard enough to actually hurt her but just to make a point. She giggled again, but climbed into the car.

              Jane slid into the passenger seat of the Camaro as Billy sat behind the wheel. He looked over at the girl, noticing that she wasn’t buckled up. Billy raised his eyebrow at her and pointedly looked at the seatbelt. “What the hell are you doing? Put the damn thing on already.”

              “Why? You aren’t wearing one,” Jane asked and Billy was kind of concerned that she was being completely serious.

              “Cause, kid, I’m older than you and if I lose control of this car, you have people who would be sad if something happened to you,” Billy said, starting the car but still not moving until the girl buckled the fuck up.

              Jane looked at him again, doing the thing where she just stares for too long, before finally putting the seat belt on. He could have sworn that he heard her mumble something about Steve, but honestly, he didn’t care. He just wanted to get the shopping done and get the hell back here. When Jane was finally buckled up, Billy turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. There was a feeling of relief when the car actually started and now he just had to worry about whether or not he could make it through the snow. Last time he had taken the Camaro for a tune up when he had the money, the mechanic tried to sell him snow tires, and even though Billy was pissed about spending more money than he had originally hoped to that day, he was kind of happy that he had done it now. Just Harrington’s driveway looked like shit now, he couldn’t imagine what the road looked like.

              Billy let them sit there for the car to warm up more. He was shivering and he noticed that Jane was too. She was pulling her jacket tighter around her little body to try and keep warm. He felt bad and cranked the heater up more, hoping that it would warm up the car faster too. The two of them sat there in silence, which wasn’t necessarily awkward, but it wasn’t comfortable either. Just yesterday he had no idea that this girl even existed and now they were going shopping together. He had only spent a few days with Harrington and now he was a babysitter.

              “Hey, girl,” Billy said, resting his arm on the door so he could look over at the passenger seat. The thought of Steve reminded Billy that now would probably be the best time to ask one of the shitheads about the other teenager. When Jane looked over at him, he asked, “You’re friends with Steve, right?”

              Jane nodded. “Yeah, we are, and you’re his friend too. He liked to talk about you.”

              Billy felt his face heat up and he quickly looked away from the girl. Why the hell was she making him feel embarrassed when she walked about Steve? Whatever, he didn’t need to know about Harrington’s little factices. Clearing his thought, he said, “Then do you know what’s up with Harrington? He’s looked like shit the last few weeks and he’s always jumping at the littlest things.”

              “The Upside Down was harder for him to deal with than it was for the rest of us,” Jane said and Billy looked back at her, brows drawn together in confusion. The Upside Down? What the hell was that? Was that what made Harrington jump at his own shadow? Billy opened his mouth to ask another question, but Jane interrupted him. “I don’t feel like talking about it, so can we please not?”

              Normally Billy would keep pushing to get the answer, but something about the way the short haired girl said it made him stop. It was like she was trying not to remember it, like it was something bad. Billy knew what that was like and he nodded. “Sure, kid, we don’t need to talk about it anymore.”

              The car was warm enough by now and Billy slowly pulled out of Harrington’s driveway, wipers going to get rid of the snowflakes on the windshield. Harrington’s driveway was hell, but he managed to get out of it and was happy to find that the road had been plowed not to long ago. He would still have to go slow, but at least it wasn’t as bad now. Hopefully it was better the closer in town he got, because of course Harrington had to live outside of the fucking town. Luckily, Billy didn’t meet anyone on the way into town and there were only a few cars in the parking lot of the grocery store. He parked in the middle of the lot and him and Jane climbed out. The shock of going from a warm car to cold wind made them both shiver and Billy quickly ushered Jane into the store. One of the employees smiled at them as they walked in, Jane smiling back at her while Billy ignored her. He just wanted to get the shit they needed and get the hell out.

              “Come kid, we need to go down here,” Billy said, already knowing where they needed to go. He’s been cooking for himself most of the time since they moved to this shit town. He hated eating with Neil, so he always made sure to make himself scarce until they were done and then he would go make himself something. He’s been to this story a lot more than he would have liked.

              He grabbed a shopping cart and him and Jane were on their way. The girl followed silently behind him, her head slightly bowed but her eyes still searching down every aisle, as if she was looking for something. They headed to the back of the store, where the milk and eggs were. Harrington already had enough eggs, but Billy figured there was no harm in getting more. The recipe that his mom had taught him for pancakes made from scratch popped up in his head and he wandered down the aisle, looking for the ingredients. They were in the aisle that had flour when Billy felt a tug on his shirt and he looked down at Jane.

              “Can I get this?” She was holding a few candy bars in her hands, lifting them up so Billy could get a better look at them. Something struck him and he realized that he had never gone shopping with Max before. He had offered before, when they had moved in together before their parents were married, but Max always declined. It was like as soon as they were in the same house, Max suddenly hated him. They were fine before, when their parents were just dating, but then some sort of shit happened and he was suddenly the reason why every bad thing in the world happened. Billy’s heard clenched in his chest painfully.

              “Sure, kiddo, throw it in the cart,” Billy said and Jane gave him a wide smile, something that he couldn’t remember anyone giving him for a long time. Shit, maybe this kid shoulda been his sister, seems like she liked him more anyways.

              They turned into another aisle when he heard someone say Jane’s name. Billy froze, knowing that voice from anywhere. Jane had also stopped beside him and turned to look behind them. Panic raced through Billy and he could feel his palms start to sweat where they were clenched painfully tight around the push bar of the cart. Fuck, this was the last thing he needed. It was already obvious that he would get in some sort of trouble, because of fucking course that was how it went. Shit, all he wanted was a quiet day with Harrington, and this was a real shitty way of starting it out.

              “Jane, what are you doing here? I thought you were staying at Steve’s,” Hopper said from behind them and Billy still refused to turn around. He didn’t want to face the sheriff until he absolutely needed to.

              “Billy needed to go shopping for breakfast, so I went with him. It’s fine, there’s no bad people here,” Jane said and Billy immediately felt Hopper’s eyes on the back of his head. He could practically feel the burn on his gaze and he decided that he couldn’t hide any longer. Turning around, Billy plastered on his smile and faced Hopper, hopping that the other man couldn’t see how he was shaking.

              “Hey there Sheriff, fancy seeing you here,” Billy said, trying to muster as much sarcasm in his voice as possible. It was easier to hide the shake.

              “I didn’t know that you and Harrington were such good friends, Hargrove,” Hopper said, eyeing him. Billy could feel the hatred in Hopper’s gaze and he didn’t let him affect him. “Much less that he trusts you enough to let you take Jane out in public with you.”

              Okay, what the hell was with that? Billy looked from the sheriff, down to Jane, and then back up. “Why the hell should it matter? What, is she not supposed to go out or something?”

              “It doesn’t matter. Come on Jane, let’s go. I’ll take you back to Steve’s so you can grab your stuff and we can go home,” Hopper said, reaching out to the girl. Billy fully expected the girl to go with Hopper, because only someone who’s completely out of their mind would want to spend time with Billy. He knew this. But, to his utter surprise, Jane shook her head and grabbed the sleeve of Billy’s jacket.

              “No, I want to stay with Billy. He’s going to make homemade pancakes and he said that they were better than Eggos. I’m going to stay with him and you can get me later,” Jane said, the tone of her voice letting the two men know that what she said was final. Billy couldn’t help but look down at the other girl, surprised at her surprise. Apparently, she really was crazy if she wanted to voluntarily stay with him.

              Hopper finally let out a sigh and looked back up at Billy. “She’s going to stay with you, but I swear to god if anything happens to her, I am going to drag your ass the jail and you will never see the light of day again, okay?”

              “Sir yes sir,” Billy said, giving the sheriff a solute with his arm that wasn’t in a death grip by some girl. Hopper rolled his eyes, said one last good-bye to Jane, and left the aisle to finish his shopping. Billy made sure to watch him until he was gone before looking down at Jane. “Why the hell are you staying with me? You do know that all of your little friends hate me, right?”

              Jane nodded, not even looking up at him. “Yeah, Dustin and Mike like to tell me how horrible you are. Max does too, even though you’re her brother. I know about what you did to Steve and why his face was hurt for a long time, but he forgave you. Steve likes you, so if he does then I do.”

              The way that Jane said it was like everything was just that simple. If someone liked you, then everyone should. Something in Billy’s chest ached at how matter of fact the girl was. He knew that the girl was going to get one hard slap in the face by reality at some point, but at least now she still has that innocence. Billy felt jealous of her for that. He would give anything to be that age again, to not have to worry about anything expect what was for dinner that night. An age where his dad wasn’t a total ass and his mom was still alive. An age where he could just be out on the beach and not have to think about anything.

              “Sure, whatever kid. Let’s just get this done so we can get back before Harrington has a fit,” Billy said, yanking his arm away from Jane and grabbing a random bag of flour.

              After the run in with Hopper, shopping went a lot smoother. Billy could still feel the eyes of some people on him, especially those who he went to school with. He could only imagine what was going on in their brains when they saw the infamous Billy Hargrove grocery shopping with some kid. Knowing some of the dumbasses in the town, they probably think that Jane’s his secret love child or something. The gazes made him uncomfortable and he wanted to get the fuck out of the store and get back to Harrington’s.

              It was a blessing when they finally checked out, Billy barely having enough money for everything, which only reminded him that he should look for a job soon. He’s running out of his savings from his job back in Cali and if he wanted to get the hell out of here in a year, he needed money. He put the thought to the back of his head for when he actually had time to look for a job. Right now he was trying not to slip on the ice outside as him and Jane made their way back to the Camaro with arms full of bags. One of Billy’s feet slipped on a clear patch of ice and his heart leapt into his throat when he felt the ground vanish beneath him. With bags in his arms, he wouldn’t be able to catch himself and he braced for the painful impact onto the ice covered concrete. The pain never came, though, and Billy opened his eyes to see why he hadn’t fallen yet. The feet still weren’t on the ground, so what the fuck was happening?

              When he actually did open his eyes, Billy saw the white-blue sky above him. A snowflake landed on his cheek, immediately melting when it came in contact with the hot skin. Some of the groceries that were balanced on top of the bags had fallen to the ground, where they lay in the accumulating snow. But Billy wasn’t on the ground. He quickly turned his head, trying to see beneath him. Nothing was around his arms, like someone had caught him, but he was still off the ground, suspended in the air. There was nothing beneath him, nothing to hold him up. As he was looking, he noticed that his body was slowly being rotated against his will. He was straightened forwards, so he was facing the Camaro, and was slowly set back down on the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground, whatever was holding him was gone and he stumbled forwards when he was suddenly left to stand on his own again.

              Whatever the hell just happened freaked Billy the fuck out. It wasn’t normal, fuck, just what he needed. Heart pounding, Billy quickly looked around him. Luckily the shitty weather made no one want to actually leave their houses, so the parking lot was almost completely empty. The few cars that were there had no people and no was had come out of the store during the time that Billy was just floating in the air. When he turned back around to say something to Jane, he stopped when he saw the blood. There was a fair amount of blood coming out of Jane’s nose and down her lip. She didn’t seem to notice, instead focusing on the bottle of syrup and back of oranges that had fallen onto the ground. Billy silently watched as both items lifted into the air and back into the bags that he was still somehow holding. A new gush of blood ran out of Jane’s nose.

              Great, just what he needed. Some fucking kid with fucking superpowers. Of course Harrington would know her.

              “Come on kid, let’s get back to the car,” Billy said, trying his best to move her towards the car. She went willingly, still not noticing the blood on her face. He had no idea how she hadn’t noticed, what whatever. Billy threw the bags into the back seat and quickly slid behind the steering wheel. The car was freezing and he turned the ignition before slipping out of his jacket and handing it over to Jane. She looked down at it, probably confused as to why he was giving it to her. Billy rolled his eyes. “It looks like you just killed someone with your face and I don’t want blood all over my car. Just use my jacket to hold the bleeding until we get back to Harrington’s.”

              When he told her that, she quickly grabbed the jacket and balled up one of the sleeves to hold under her nose. Billy winced when he was his jean jacket quickly get stained with blood. Great, that was his favorite, and not to mention best, coat to wear in cold weather. Harrington owed him a new one.

              The ride back to Harrington’s house was quiet, Billy not even turning on the radio. His mind was still racing with what had happened in the parking lot. So, the girl who is currently sitting next to him can make shit float with her mind, even an almost fully-grown man like himself. And he thought that Cali was fucked up. When they finally pulled back into the front of Harrington’s house, Billy turned the car off but didn’t move from his spot. Jane didn’t either, probably waiting for him. He finally took a deep breath and said, “So, what happened back there, that was you wasn’t it?”

              Jane shrugged her shoulders and nodded, acting like she just did something that she wasn’t supposed to do. Billy nodded and looked away from her. “Well, thanks for that, I owe you. And that shit was pretty cool, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

              Billy could see Jane sort of perk up from the corner of his eye, but he ignored it. It’s not like he was trying to make the girl feel better or some shit. That levitation shit was actually pretty fucking cool. God knows what he would do with that. Between the span of talking to Jane, the car had gotten a hell of a lot colder and the snow was falling harder. He needed to get the two of them, and the food, back into the house. Billy quickly climbed out of the car, way colder than he had been since he had given Jane his jacket, and grabbed the bags from the back seat. While he did that, Jane ran up to the door and held it open for Billy, who struggled to kick his boots off in the front foyer without dropping the bags. A quick glance in the living room revealed that none of the others had woken up yet, which was a wonder.

              “Let’s go kid, we got some cooking to do. Go wash your face off first,” Billy whispered. Jane vanished into the bathroom ahead of him, taking the jacket with her. Billy started to unpack the groceries while he waited for Jane, who quickly reappeared, blood free, with his jacket clenched in her hands. He just nodded his head towards a chair, where she quickly dropped it before coming over to help.

              The cooking went far better than Billy thought it would go. It was easier to make the food with two people and Jane was one hell of a helper, way better than Max was the few times that she was forced to help him. Jane actually acted like she enjoyed it, carefully mixing the pancake batter and watching him flip the bacon. Neither talked much, which was just fine with Billy. He would rather them be quiet than try to do small talk. Neither knew each other very well yet and they were just enjoying the company of another person.

              “What smells so good?” someone said from the kitchen doorway and Billy turned to see the group of kids standing there. Apparently they never went anywhere without each other. Mike had been the one who spoke and he was still rubbing at his eyes. A smile spread on his face when he noticed Jane. “Oh, there you are. I was wondering if Hopper picked you up early or something.”

              “No, I was helping Billy cook,” Jane said, holding up the spatula that she was using to flip the pancakes. Granted, Billy probably shouldn’t have let Jane flip them while she kneeled on a chair in front of the stove, but whatever. If she fell then she fell. It would be her fault and there was a reason why he always hated babysitting Max. He just didn’t really care.

              “Yeah, what the hell is going on here?” Dusting demanded, immediately brisling when he saw Billy. The teen rolled his eyes as the kid and turned back to the eggs.

              “Since Harrington let me stay, I figured that I’d make breakfast. Starve for all I care, I won’t make you eat this,” Billy said. He heard Dustin huff, but knew that the boy would eat. It smelled too damn good to pass up.

              “Since when did you start cooking again?” Max asked and Billy had to look over his shoulder at the girl. She was staring at him in confusion, then looked at Jane. Billy was surprised when he saw quick, small look of pain flash over her face before it was gone.

              “I needed to eat someway. Just because we moved to this backwards ass town doesn’t mean I don’t need to eat,” Billy said, grabbing a bowl that he had previously found to put the eggs in. He knew that Max probably felt some sort of hurt, since cooking used to be the one thing that they would really do together, even though he would have to force her to help him, and now Jane was helping him. Honestly, he could care less. She treated him like shit and he’s treated her like shit. Neither needs to feel bad about it. “One of you go wake up Harrington, the rest of you can help set the table. Food’s almost ready.”

              Lucas vanished back into the living room to wake Harrington while the rest of the kids grabbed the piles of plates, silverware, and cups that Billy had set out before on the island. Since the table in the kitchen was too small to hold all of them comfortably, they would have to use the one on the dinning room, which had more room. None of the kids appeared back in the kitchen and Billy sent Jane in with the plate stacked high with pancakes. Hopefully that would keep them curbed until the rest of the food was brought in.

              An arm suddenly appeared on the counter next to the stove and Billy felt a body lean too close to him, a chest pressed against his shoulder. Harrington’s breath brushed across Billy’s neck as he said, “I didn’t know you could cook.”

              “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Harrington, and I promise that if you tell anyone at all, I will beat in your face again,” Billy warned, flicking the spoon that he was using towards Steve’s face. A piece of egg landed on the end of his nose and he laughed.

              “Don’t sorry, Hargrove, your little secrete is safe with me,” Steve said, not seeming to notice the egg on his face. He was still so close to Billy that the could see just how horrible the bruise on his face was. Their breath mingled and Billy had to resist rolling his hips against the counter. Fuck, all he wanted to do was press Steve against every flat surface of this house and make him scream his name. Steve leaned ever so slightly closer and Billy could feel the panic rise in his chest. Instead of letting Steve lean any closer, Billy reached his hand up and swiped the piece of egg from the other boy’s nose before sticking his thumb in his own mouth. He saw Steve’s gaze flicker down and watch his mouth. Billy resisted the urge to smile when he was the other boy swallow.

              “Come on, Harrington, help me bring the food to the table before the shitheads come looking for it,” Billy said, pushing away from Steve and turning back to the eggs. Steve quickly moved away from Billy, a blush high on his cheeks, and grabbed the carton of orange juice and plate of bacon.

              Billy looked over his shoulder and watched Steve leave the kitchen, eyes planted firmly on Harrington’s ass. A small smile ghosted across Billy’s lips and he thought that today was going to be a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I decided that I wanted Jane and Billy to bond a little bit, since I think that the two characters would have an interesting relationship with each other. I hope you all enjoyed the little bit of fluff before we head back into the angst.


	9. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I just want to say sorry about this chapter before hand. Like I said, it was time to get back to the angst. Also, trigger warning for the last little bit of the chapter, so just a heads up.

The last thing that Steve expected to see when he walked into the kitchen was Billy fucking Hargrove leaning over a bowl of eggs with Jane by his side. He had no idea that the other teen could even cook, but holy fuck was it good. By the time the two of them even got into the dining room with the rest of the rood, the kids had already devoured most of the pancakes. Steve barely managed to grab two for him and Billy before they were gone. Not only could Billy cook, but it actually tasted good. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had an actual breakfast before. His parents never made anything when they were home. It was kind of nice.

              The kids seemed to warm up to Billy a little now that they’ve decided that he wasn’t going to poison them with the food. They scarfed the food down faster than Steve has ever seen them do. Dustin kept trying to talk with his mouth full, despite almost everyone telling him not to and Mike was talking to Jane more than actually eating. Steve didn’t miss the look that Max kept sending Billy though, who kept his eyes on the table, probably mostly out of uncomfortableness than anything else. They were just finishing breakfast when the phone rang. Steve quickly stood up to grab it and Mrs. Wheeler was on the other end, telling him that Nancy was on her way to pick up the boys before the weather got too bad. Apparently none of the parents wanted Steve to drive in the snow, since he was the one who let the kids all crash at his place. Steve quickly thanked her and hung up.

              When he told the kids, they all complained about having to leave. Excuse after excuse was made for them to stay at Steve’s, but he just shook his head. Nancy was already on her way and there really wasn’t anything that he could do about it. In the meantime, though, they could help clean up since Billy and Jane had made breakfast for all of them. There were more protests from the group, but they reluctantly followed Steve’s orders. It was chaos, to say the least.

              Lucas and Max were put in charge of washing the dishes, which just ended up with them and Dustin soaked because Dustin kept trying to hit them with the drying rag. Mike struggled to balance three plates of leftovers, but then he dropped one and the plate shattered, making an even bigger mess. Will quietly wiped down the counters and table and Steve felt like the boy was a true blessing. Meanwhile, Billy was laughing at his struggles to control the kids. Steve sent the other boy a glare over his shoulder, but he just stuck his tongue out and laughed again.

              By the time the doorbell rang, Steve could feel a headache coming on and he wasn’t so excited to see Nancy in his life. They greeted each other, tension still there from yesterday. There was no way that she missed Billy’s Camaro in the driveway and knew that she wanted to ask about it, but he just shook his head. “Not now Nanc.”

              The snow had started to fall harder, so he invited her into the house as they waited for the kids. They stood there together, the awkward tension high between them. They watched as the kids ran around, trying to find all their shit before they had to leave. Billy suddenly appeared, dressed in his clothes from yesterday, minus his jacket, and his hair was still pulled back. Steve had to admit that he looked really fucking hot with his hair like that. Max followed behind him, still talking to Lucas as they walked to the door.

              “Hey there, princess,” Billy said, smiling at Nancy, who just rolled her eyes and glared at him. Billy licked his lips before looking back at Steve. “Thanks for letting us stay, Harrington, but I gotta get Max home before Neil and Susan get back.”

              “Yeah, sure, I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Steve said. “See you around, Max.”

              “Bye Steve, thanks again,” Max said before bolting past them and out the door. Billy followed, sending Steve one last look over his shoulder before climbing into the Camaro and starting it up. Both him and Nancy watched as he pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down the road. It wasn’t long after that that the rest of the kids were ready to go and they said bye to Steve together, Dustin even giving him a hug before they followed Nancy out to her car. Steve watched until he couldn’t see them anymore before finally closing the door.

              He turned and leaned his back against it, eyes sweeping across the now empty house. It was always weird when the kids leave the house. Everything would be loud and chaotic one minute and then quiet the next, like they were never there. Steve hated the silence. He would rather have the kids were every minute instead of the silence. It only reminded him of how lonely the house was.

              He pushed himself off of the door and walked into the kitchen. Everything was clean and it looked like they didn’t just have a large breakfast. The only thing that eluded to anyone living in the house were the dishes that Dustin didn’t finish drying. Steve decided to leave them there, having no energy to actually put them away. He’ll just do it later. As he walked around the island, something on one of the chairs caught his attention. Stopping, Steve pulled out a jacket that he recognized as Billy’s. Huh, it was weird that he left the jacket here, unless he just forgot about it, which seemed unlikely since it was cold as hell outside. Oh well, he’ll just give it to him tomorrow at school.

              As he folded it, his fingers touched something that was sticky on the sleeve. When Steve pulled his fingers back, flecks of red sat on his fingertips. Confused, he quickly turned the sleeve around so he could see what he just touched. Blood soaked the sleeve of Billy’s jacket, like he used it to stop some sort of bleeding. He didn’t remember seeing either him nor Jane with any visible wounds when they got back from the store. They both looked fine.

              Oh shit. Oh fuck no.

              Steve looked down at the jacket when it suddenly dawned on him. He remembered seeing small specks of something red on Jane’s shirt when they got back, but he just figured that she had spilled something on herself, but now it made sense. Shit. If she used her powers and Billy gave her his jacket for her nose bleed, then that means he had seen her use them. Billy Hargrove knew that Jane could do shit with her mind that wasn’t normal. Great, that’s just what he needed, to do damage control. He couldn’t tell any of the others what Billy knew, because he knew that their solution would be something less than favorable. He just had to make sure to talk to Billy tomorrow and make him not tell anyone.

              Steve laid the jacket over the back of the chair before going up to his room. His back hurt like a bitch and he had homework to do. He made sure to close the door behind himself when he got to his bedroom and flopped down on the bed. Fuck his teachers and all the homework they decided that he had time to do. Without Nancy’s help anymore, he had to make sure to actually do the work if he wanted to pass his senior year and graduate with everyone else. The sooner he got out of school, the sooner he can get out of this town.

              Time quickly passed as Steve did his homework and before he knew it, his alarm was going off. He sat up quickly, reaching for the bat that was next to his bed. There was no jumping out of bed and hitting the wall this time, but he did look around in confusion. Morning light filtered under his curtains and his clock, which was still going off, read six in the morning. He must have fell asleep doing his homework and not even realized it. Steve dropped the bat and turned the alarm off, the blaring only doing more to make his head hurt than it already did.

              Steve managed to make his way to the bathroom and jumped into the shower. He was still exhausted, despite falling asleep early. That’s what nightmares will do to you. But he still felt the most well rested than he had for a long time and the shower woke him up even more. The thought of seeing Billy and actually talking to him today helped spur him on and Steve actually had the energy to make himself look presentable today. So, with a towel wrapped around his waist, he went to work on his hair. It felt good to finally have energy again. He felt like some of the weight of the world has lifted from his shoulders and he could finally break again. Despite the difficulty that his wrapped hand presented, Steve still wouldn’t let that bring him down and he styled his hair with the same kind of enthusiasm he had when him and Nancy still dated.

              It was hard, but Steve managed not to actually look straight at his face in the mirror. When he was doing his hair, he focused on that, getting just a glimpse of the nasty bruise on his face. When he brushed his teeth, he looked away from the mirror. When he washed his face, he kept his eyes closed. He did everything he could to not actually look at the bruise. It would only remind him of the nightmares and he wanted to have a good day. The thought of stealing some of his mom’s makeup to cover it up popped into Steve’s head, but he decided against it since he had no idea how to actually apply it and make it look good. He just had to rely on his sunglasses and hope no one asked how he got the bruise. Steve had to get dressed quickly, since his hair took longer than normal, on account that he was kind of rusty. The light green polo shirt and jeans that he wore the other day was the most that he’s actually tried for weeks. Normally he just grabbed the first thing that he saw and threw it on, but now he wanted to make a good impression. He wanted to look good for Billy.

              The house was silent when he walked into the kitchen, like normal. His parents had called him a few days ago to tell him that their trip was going to be extended, on account of some unexpected business thing. Now, he had no idea when they’re supposed to be home, but it didn’t matter. They never stayed long enough anyways. Steve pushed the thought of his parents out of his head when he stopped in the middle of the kitchen and looked towards the fridge. The breakfast that Billy made yesterday was the first real food that he’s eaten in the morning for a long time. Normally the nightmares left him panicked and nauseous and food never sounded good, even if his stomach was gnawing at itself out of hunger. Sometimes he would have the energy to fry an egg or grab an apple at school, but he could never finish all of it and it just ended up being wasted. It wasn’t easy to eat as much as he did yesterday, since his body had become accustomed to not eating until evening, and he felt like he would vomit a few times, but he learned that if he just moved the food around the plate a lot and eat a little every once in a while, no one will notice. Not even Billy.

              Despite somehow not having a nightmare last night, Steve’s stomach still revolted at the thought of food and he just grabbed his keys off the island before leaving the kitchen. His winter jacket was hung next to the door and he quickly pulled it on before slipping on his boots and shouldering his backpack. It had stopped snowing at some point late yesterday, but the air was still frigid and Steve made sure to pull his jacket closer around his body. Luckily they had a neighbor with a snowplow that they payed to clear their driveway and he had done it at some point that morning, so it was easy for Steve to get his car moving. The road was also plowed, so the drive to school wasn’t made. When he pulled into the parking lot, he saw Nancy’s car already there with her and Jonathan sitting inside, waiting for him. Steve parked along side them and smiled when they noticed him. The two of them quickly got out of the car as Steve climbed out of his, sunglasses situated as best as he could get them on his face.

              “Steve, how are you?” Nancy asked as they walked towards the school and Steve could tell she didn’t really care. There was something that she really wanted to say and she just asked him how he was out of formality.

              “I’m fine, Nanc, and hey Jonathan,” Steve said and Jonathan gave him a little nod. “Now what do you want to say, Nancy?”

              “Mike said that Billy stayed with you all night on Saturday. He even said that he made them breakfast Sunday,” Nancy said, keeping her voice down so other students around them wouldn’t know what they were talking about. They stopped walking so a car could drive in front of them.

              “Yeah, he did. Max wanted to come hang out with the other shitheads and she could only if Billy came with. It wasn’t bad, kind of nice actually to have someone who wasn’t thirteen to talk to,” Steve said, not looking at Nancy.

              “You could have called me. I would have been happy to come hang out like we used to,” Nancy said and Steve rolled her eyes. Does she even realize what she’s saying before she says them?

              “Seeing how our ‘hang out’ used to consist of making out, I don’t think your new boyfriend would appreciate that very much. Anyways, Mike told me that you were with Jonathan anyways, so I didn’t want to pull you away from him. Believe it or not, it is nice to have friends other than my ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend,” Steve said and he saw Nancy’s face fall, a blush quickly painting her cheeks. Looks like she didn’t think that through. Steve turned to them when they stepped into the school building. “I’ll see you guys later.”

              Steve bowed his head as he put his locker combo in and popped the locker open. The sunglasses were thrown in the top of the locker. He was stuffing his backpack into the small space when he happened to look up and see the telltale blonde mullet coming down the hall towards him. Their lockers were right next to each other and Steve felt a smile on his lips as he anxiously waited for the arrival of the other boy. But when he finally saw Billy’s face, the smile slipped a little. The other teen was wearing sunglasses too, but they did little to hide the bruise that had formed on his face. Billy was still too far away for Steve to see how bad or big the bruise was, but it was obviously not pretty. Tommy appeared next to Billy and said something to the boy, but Billy pushed him away and Tommy yelled something that Steve couldn’t make out before vanishing down the hall.

              “Hey, Billy,” Steve said once the other boy finally got to him. Instead of greeting him, like Steve was expecting, Billy just ignored him, like he didn’t even know Steve was there, and quickly opened his locker. Billy’s hair fell in front of his face when he finally removed his glasses, making it nearly impossible for Steve to see his face yet. Against his better judgement, Steve reached out and gently touched Billy’s arm.

              The reaction was almost instantaneous. Billy wrenched himself out of Steve’s grip and sent a fist flying at his face. Pain exploded through Steve’s face when Billy’s fist connected with his cheek, the bruise that he already had pulsing even more. The noise that he made when he fell back against the locker grabbed the attention of the people near and it didn’t take long for a semi-circle to form around them. Something cracked in Steve and it felt like there was an explosion. Everything that he’s felt, all the fear, all the anger, all the helplessness, suddenly came to the forefront of what he was feeling. Red hot anger fueled his actions. With the last of blood in his mouth and eyes still sort of unfocused, Steve launched himself at Billy. He didn’t even see the other teen’s face, instead his mind formed the image of a Demogorgon. His own fist connected with Hargrove’s stomach and he doubled over, which was the perfect opportunity for Steve to bring his knee up. His knee connected with Hargrove’s face perfectly, but he didn’t hear any sort of crunch, so he didn’t break his nose. Damn.

              Hargrove stumbled back, holding his bloody face. His hair fell in front of his face, masking it from Steve, so he couldn’t anticipate what Hargrove was going to do next. Somehow, Hargrove moved with speed and there was a pressure against Steve’s throat and the lockers against his back before he could move. It was infuriating, that Hargrove could look like shit, but still be stronger than him. Steve was pinned against the locker, Hargrove’s arm pressed against his throat to hold him there, and he was bubbling over with anger. All he wanted to do was break something, so make someone hurt. Maybe it would help him.

              The thought quickly vanished from his mind when he looked up and finally saw Hargrove’s face. The boy had shaken his hair out of his face, probably to keep blood out of it, and the damage was obvious. The bruise was not from what Steve did just now. Yeah, the knee to the face was definitely going to turn into one nasty bruise, but that wasn’t what was on his face. Through the blood that was speared from Hargrove’s nose to his cheek was a bruise that rivaled, maybe even worse, than his own. It was dark and purple, an angry mark that disfigured Hargrove’s handsome face. It formed around his eye and made its way down his cheek and across his chin. The largest part of his face that was unmarked was his left eye and cheek. Steve could see a few bruises peaking out from beneath Hargrove’s buttoned shirt.

              He raked his eyes upwards, over the split lip and bloody nose, to his eyes. Hargrove’s eyes were full of anger, both at Steve and something else. All fight left Steve when he met the other boy’s eyes. They looked panicked, like a wild animal. The blood vessels in his right were broken and the whites of his eye were stained red. Something twisted in Steve’s guts and his arms went limp from where they were clutching Hargrove’s arm. The other teen continued to glare at him.

              “Don’t get the wrong idea, pretty boy. Just because we had a nice breakfast doesn’t make us friends. Remember that and leave me the fuck alone. Next time you try and get friendly with me, it’ll be a replay of the night at the Byers’,” Hargrove growled, low and threatening. He didn’t give Steve a change to reply, instead quickly pushing off of him, grabbing his backpack, and stalking down the hall. The group that had quickly formed around them disbanded almost as quickly, the lack of violence boring them again. Steve stayed where he was, watching where Hargrove had disappeared to. He wasn’t sure how he felt. He knew that some shit happened to Hargrove yesterday after he left, but he was still pissed at the boy for punching him in the fucking face. His hand twitched and the numbness that had settled in Steve for the last month or so was now back.

              “Steve, are you okay?” Nancy said, her and Jonathan suddenly appearing next to him. Steve finally forced himself to look away from the hall and towards his ex-girlfriend. She was staring at him, obvious concern in her face. When she saw his face, she gasped and gently put her hand on his unbruised cheek. “What did Hargrove do? Are you okay?”

              “Don’t worry, Nanc, I’m fine,” Steve said, shrugging her off of him. He didn’t want to deal with this, not now. All he wanted was to be alone. He’s survived this long without someone making a fuss over him and he can keep going. He held up his hand that he had punched Hargrove with, blood seeping through the bandages. “You guys go to class. I’m going to go get this bandaged up. I’ll see you at lunch.”

              Nanc opened her mouth to complain, but Jonathan quickly quieted her and nodded to Steve before corralling his girlfriend towards their class. Steve has never been more thankful for the older Byers boy. Steve shut his locker and stuffed his uninjured hand into his pocket as he made his way to the nurse’s office. The warning bell rang out and the halls quickly emptied, which he was happy about. He didn’t need the stares at this face. When he finally made it to the nurse’s office, Ms. Juno looked up from her spot at the desk. When she saw it was Steve, she smiled.

              “What can I do for you, Mr. Harrington? I’m afraid I don’t have anything to get rid of the bruises, except for the suggestion to get very familiar with makeup,” the nurse joked and Steve felt himself smile. She’s always been his favorite adult at school.

              “Afraid I’m here for something a little worse than a bruise,” Steve said, raising his hand so Ms. Juno could take a look at it. Her eyebrows knit together in concern when she saw the bloody bandages and she quickly stood up from her chair.

              “What the hell did you do this time? Come on, follow me,” she said, gesturing him to sit down in one of the chairs under a better light. When he sat down, Ms. Juno quickly cut the bandages and inspected his hand. He didn’t look at her face as she took in the cuts and holes in his hand. She finally looked up at him and he forced himself to meet her gaze. All playfulness was gone and it was now replaced with pure concern. “Steve, what did you do? And please be honest with me.”

              Steve shrugged, uncomfortable under the scrutiny. “I just grabbed something that had sharp edges wrong. Look, I know it looks bad, but it really isn’t. I still have full movement in my hand, so I didn’t tear anything important, and it’s already starting to heal. Please, can you just wrap it up for me. I don’t want to be too late for my class.”

              Ms. Juno sighed, wanting to ask more but respecting Steve’s wishes. She grabbed a roll of fresh bandages and, after applying some sort of ointment to the bleeding wounds, wrapped it. Once she was done, Steve quickly stood up and asked, “Do you think I could have some extra bandages? I just don’t want to come bother you again if I need them changed. And don’t worry, I’ve been practicing at how to wrap with one hand.”

              Ms. Juno looked at him and he was afraid that she’s seen through his lie, but she eventually nodded and handed him the rest of the roll she was using. “You know that you are never a bother to me. Just remember that if you need anything, anything at all, just stop on by.”

              Steve grabbed the bandages and quickly thanked her before leaving the office. He wasn’t going to bother going to class, having already missed enough for it to not be worth it. Instead, he headed to the bathroom that he knew that used the least, the roll of bandages in his hand. When he got to the bathroom and after a check to make sure there was no one in any of the stalls, Steve locked himself in the last one. Placing the bandages on top of the toilet dispenser, he dug in his pocket to grab what his fingers had found earlier. Pulling out the razor, he nicked his thumb. He held it up, looking at it to see if he could feel anything. The numbness, which had become too normal over the last weeks, remained, refusing to let any other emotion out. There was no anger, that already used up on Hargrove, no happiness, to relief. He almost wished that he could feel scared for what he was about to do, sad that he couldn’t feel anything. But there was nothing.

              Steve looked down, trying to find a decent place. The wrists and arms were off limits because of basketball, and the stomach would be too noticeable. Finally making his decision, Steve unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down just enough to reveal his thigh. After pushing his boxers up, Steve pressed the razor to the white skin. He didn’t bother to hesitate.

              It was nice to finally feel something again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Steve.   
> Figured I should apologize again, but I hope this chapter was good.  
> I also want to thank all of you for the comments and kudos, it means a lot to me and keeps me going with this story! SO THANK YOU!!!


	10. Billy

              Billy was shaking in his seat. Adrenaline was still coursing through his body, despite his small fight with Harrington having ended almost thirty minutes ago. He had first period with the other boy, but he never showed up. He tried not to care. His stomach still hurt like a bitch, Harrington managing to hit him straight in a particularly painful spot that Neil had favored yesterday. Pain was still radiating from his face, especially his nose. When Harrington brought his knee up to his face, he was honestly scared that he would break his nose, but luckily that didn’t happen. He had somehow ended up kneeing him just off center, so the full power wasn’t aimed at his nose. It still hurt his check bone like a bitch, though.

              He was also aware of all the stares he was getting. Not only did he have not one, but now two large bruises on his face, he also didn’t have time to wash the blood from his face. So, he walked into Math with blood still smeared all over his face and he made sure to grab the tissue box from the teacher’s desk as he walked by. The old scrooge didn’t even stop him. He spent most of the hour trying to clean up his face, so he looked at least a little better. He still had a reputation to hold up and he can’t have it going around that Harrington managed to get a good hit on him.

              When the class ended, Billy was up and out of his seat in a heartbeat, making sure he was the first out the door. He tossed the bloody tissues into the garbage on his way out and quickly made a stop in the bathroom. He got angry at Harrington all over again when he saw his own face. Almost his whole face was going to be bruised now. Seeing the bruises, especially the ones that Harrington hadn’t given him, just made Billy pissed again and he slammed his fist into the counter. Yesterday had started out pretty well, waking up with Harrington in his lap and then making breakfast for more than himself was nice. Working over the stove reminded him of his mother, but then he got home and all hell broke loose.

              As it turned out, Neil and Susan got home early that morning, even before him and Max did. As soon as he pulled into the driveway and saw his father’s car, he knew he was in for one hell of a beating. He was given strict instructions to stay home and he blatantly disregarded them. Billy had felt panic, all forms of happiness gone in a second. His hands shook as he clutched the steering wheel. As soon as he shut the Camaro off, Max was out of the car and to the front door of the house. All Billy wanted to do was drive away, to go back to Steve and stay with him, because at least there he felt somewhat wanted. But he knew he couldn’t do that, couldn’t run away. It would only reward him with an even worse beating when he got back. So, he sucked it up and slowly walked up to the house. With only a small hesitation outside the door, he finally opened it and walked in.

              Inside, Max was already telling Neil and Susan about Steve’s. Billy heard the tail end of her telling them about him cooking breakfast for everyone. When he walked in, Neil looked up and Billy froze at the look in his father’s eyes. There was nothing but pure anger. When Neil told Susan and her and Max should go shopping, he knew that he was in for it. Billy quickly slipped past them and to his room, feeling Neil’s eyes on the back of his head the whole time. It wasn’t long after that when Neil came into Billy’s room.

              When it was all said and done, Billy’s whole body hurt. It felt like he was hit by a truck, this time definitely being one of the worst beatings. Neil said it was because he had made Susan. Apparently, they had come home early and found the house empty, Billy’s car gone and no note anywhere. Billy was, yet again, beat because of Max. If the little shithead hadn’t insisted on going to Harrington’s, then he wouldn’t be huddled on the floor of his room, arms wrapped around his stomach. And Harrington. Part of this was his fault too. If he wasn’t so nice to him, if he hadn’t offered for Billy to come too, he wouldn’t be in this situation either. Shit would have been easier if Harrington just kept on hating him.

              Now there he stood, outside the door to his second class, chemistry. This was the first of two classes that he had with Harrington. Even though the other boy was a year older than him, Billy was able to be put into higher science and English. It was pretty surprising to everyone that he was smart. Normally he was excited about this class, mostly because he was able to start fires, but this time he was actually debating on whether or not he should just skip. He didn’t want to see Harrington, not after the shit this morning, but he couldn’t risk missing anymore class. He had to get at least a passing grade so he could get the hell out of here quicker. So, he took a deep breath and walking through the door.

              A quick scan around the room revealed that Harrington wasn’t there yet, which was just fine with him. Luckily they never sat next to each other, so he didn’t have to worry about trying to find a new lab partner. When Billy sat down, he slouched and tried to make it harder for anyone to see his face. The movement hurt is stomach, but he ignored it and kept his eyes on the door. When the teacher came in, there was still no Harrington. When the teacher started class, still no Harrington. Despite his best intentions, Billy was staring to feel worried that the other boy hadn’t shown up yet. He was mad at himself for worrying, but he couldn’t stop it. When Harrington finally walked into the room, Billy let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding at the sight of the other boy.

              “Oh, hello there, Mr. Harrington. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn’t be blessed with your presence today,” the teacher said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Billy felt anger boil in his stomach when she talked to him like that.

              “Yeah, sorry,” Harrington said, not even looking at the teacher. His head was down and he only lifted it for a moment to look around the room. When his and Billy’s eyes met, Harrington quickly looked away and hurried to his seat. It was easy to see the change in Harrington and Billy wondered what the hell he could have done in an hour to look as shitty as he did. He obviously visited the nurse, the clean bandages on his hand told him that. But his previously styled hair was not a mess, like he had run his hands through it many times, and he was trying, not very successfully, to hide the grimace that he made every time he would move his leg. Billy tried not to care.

              Through the whole class, Billy kept his eyes on the back of Harrington’s head. The other boy was crouched low in his seat, folded over onto himself as if he was trying to look as small as possible. It was like he was a completely different person than who Billy saw this morning. It was weird to see the difference and how quickly it happened. It almost made him feel guilty.

              When the teacher turned back to the board, there was a jab in his side and Billy turned to scowl at whoever touched him. Tommy was leaning over the aisle from his table and whispered, “So, I heard you beat Harrington’s ass. Nice going man.”

              “Fuck off, Tommy,” Billy hissed back, having to patience for Tommy’s bullshit today. This day was already shit and it was only second period. Tommy opened his mouth to say something else, but the glare that Billy sent him immediately shut him up. “I really fucking mean it, Tommy. You’ll be the next one to get their ass kicked.”

              Tommy huffed but leaned back to his own table. Billy ignored the other teen and tried to focus on whatever the teacher was saying, but his eyes kept drifting back to Harrington. Luckily, the bell rang shortly afterwards and Billy was out of his seat. He tried to ignore the way that Harrington slowly and carefully slid out of his own chair as he walked out of the room. His next class was useless and he needed a cigarette really fucking bad. It was easy enough to get through the front door of the school since no teacher here really gave a shit. Billy walked to the side of the building, where no one could see him from the parking lot, and leaned up against the bricks. The cigarette was in his mouth almost immediately and his hand shook from the cold when he tried to light it. After a few failed attempts, he finally managed it get the fucking thing lighted and he took a long drag from it. All the tension that was previously coiled up in his body was released and Billy leaned back with a sigh, enjoying the burn of the smoke. It seemed like smoking was the one way Billy could relax. After the shit that happened last night, he had gone through half a pack before finally managing to stop himself. If his dad didn’t kill him, then the cigarettes will.

              The only downside to smoking was that it didn’t take much brain power to do it. It gave Billy’s mind opportunity to wander, and of fucking course his mind traveled back to Harrington. Faint guilt twisted his gut and Billy’s teeth tore into the cigarette. He quickly discarded it and lit a new one. The image of Harrington’s hurt face popped back into his subconscious and Billy just wanted to bash his head into the wall behind him. He hated that his mind kept going back to Harrington. The fucking teen did something to him and whatever it was, he hated it. Everything was fine before Neil and Susan made them move to this fuck of a town. California was great. All his friends were there, he actually had shit to do during the weekend instead of going to the next small town party with shitty alcohol. And it didn’t have Harrington.

              “Hargrove,” someone said and Billy opened his eyes again. He looked down and was surprised to see the older Wheeler there, staring angrily at him. She looked almost like she was in pain at just talking to him.

              “Oh, well if it isn’t Princess. Don’t you know that it isn’t good to be alone with a heathen?” Billy asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He already knew that Wheeler fucking hated his guts, so there was no reason for him to try and be nice to her. She won’t return the favor.

              “You’re not supposed to smoke on school grounds,” she said, matter-of-fact and Billy rolled his eyes.

              “And you aren’t supposed to skip class. I do have this class with you, Wheeler,” Billy said after seeing the confused look on her face. It was kind of satisfying and he took another drag from the cigarette to hide his smile. “So, what the hell do you want?”

              “Stay away from Steve,” Nancy said and Billy could have easily guessed that was what she was going to say to him. Of course it was something about Harrington.

              “And why would I do that?” Billy asked.

              “I don’t care about what happened this weekend, but that stunt you pulled this morning was out of line. It really screwed Steve up,” Nancy said and Billy couldn’t help but feel angry. She had the nerve to accuse him of fucking up Harrington, after everything that she put him through? Nope, no way. Fuck that.

              “Really, Princess, I’m the one who’s screwed up Harrington?” Billy demanded and Nancy’s eyes widened in surprise and confusion. It only pissed him off even more. “Don’t forget, I’m not the one who’s his ex and flaunting my new arm piece around in front of him.”

              “Wha-“ Nancy started, but Billy interrupted her to keep talking.

              “I don’t know what the fuck you guys did, whether it had to do with the night at the Byers or what, but whatever the hell it was really fucking screwed Harrington up and no one seemed to notice,” Billy said, deciding to say screw it with his anger. “Did you know that he has a fucking bat full of nails in his room and holes in his walls? He has fucking panic attacks and none of you even seem to notice!”

              “What? Steve doesn’t have panic attacks,” Nancy said, but her voice was quiet and she no longer looked at Billy’s face.

              “Oh yeah? Then please, explain to me the few times that I was there to calm him down when he was curled up in a ball and could barely breath? Trust me, Princess, I was there and I was the only one who helped him. Next time you want to make a dumbass remark, make sure you know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Billy said. His smile was gone and he knew how harsh his voice probably sounded, but he didn’t give a single fuck. He wanted Wheeler to know how angry he was and how done with her shit he was.

              “But, if that’s true, why didn’t he tell me, tell Jonathan? He knows that we’re hear for him,” Nancy said, her voice breaking and looking like she was close to tears.

              “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he doesn’t want to see the two of you together? Just imagine the slap in the face it gives him to see you and creepy Byers together,” Billy said, a cruel smile spreading across his lips. “It probably fucked up his mind when he found one the two of you fucked when you were still with him.”

              He should have seen the slap coming, but it still caught him by surprise. Nancy’s palm cracked across his face, right along the bruise that stretched the length of it. Pain shot through his head and straight into his brain, stars forming behind his eyes as he struggled not to fall against the wall. He somehow still managed not to drop his cigarette, but his teeth dug into it when his jaw clenched. He kept his head turned away from Nancy, still trying to get his eyesight back. Normally when someone hit him, he wouldn’t have any problem recovering, but everything still hurt from the night before, his face especially since he did take Harrington’s knee to the face.

              “Don’t you dare talk about something you don’t know about. Just stay away from Steve,” Nancy said. He kept his eyes away from her and she quickly walked away, her feet crunching in the snow as she moved further away.

              Billy didn’t move for what seemed like time. He didn’t want to move. His face felt like it was smashed by a metal chair and his brain was on fire. He would give anything to be somewhere else, somewhere not fucking here. Rage boiled in his stomach, a feeling that he was getting all too acquainted with again, and before he knew what he was doing, his fist was against the brick wall. The pain radiating up his arm distracted him from the throb in his head and he could feel blood drip down his wrist.

              The bell rang, making Billy jump and pull away from the wall. This class period was over, which meant that he had one more before lunch. He could manage that. It shouldn’t be too hard to make it until lunch, especially when he just had his cigarette. It was only English, he could handle listening to the teacher talk about what an author didn’t mean when they wrote a book.

              Fuck, was he wrong.

              Billy had completely forgotten than he had that class with Steve until he walked in and saw the other boy already sitting in his seat. Harrington didn’t even look up when Billy walked by, instead keeping his eyes on his desk. Billy managed to smoothly walk past the other teen and slide into his seat seamlessly, even though his heart was pounding out of his chest. All he could see of the other boy was the back of his head and his hair looked even worse than it did before, if that was even possible. Luckily the teacher walked in and started to talk about some book that Billy never bothered to read. Actually, he didn’t even know where it was. Something gnawed at Billy, his eyes watching every move that Harrington made. Billy watched as Harrington kept rubbing his hand on his upper thigh, like he had an itch there that wouldn’t go away. It bugged him, but he wasn’t sure why.

              “Billy Hargrove and Steve Harrington,” the teacher suddenly said, pulling Billy’s attention back away from Harrington when he heard his name. He didn’t miss the way that Harrington stiffened when his name was said too, but Billy was more focused on what the teacher was saying. Why the hell did she say his name? He didn’t think that he was in trouble or anything, but with him it could be anything. The teacher kept calling out names, pairing people up together, which didn’t help Billy’s confusion. Once she was finally done, the teacher said, “I’ll let you get together with your partners for the last few minutes of class and hand out the rubric.”

              Almost immediately people were up and shuffling around, trying to find a place to sit with their partner. When Harrington didn’t move right away, Billy called, “Hey pretty boy, I’m not moving so you better get your ass back here.”

              A few people around him who heard what he said chuckled, but he ignored them. Harrington didn’t move for a moment, but then finally stood up and grabbed his backpack. His head was still bowed when he moved back and sat in the seat next to Billy, who noticed that the other teen was trying to stay as far away from him as possible. Billy guessed that he could understand where Harrington was coming from, especially since he was the one who punched him that morning in the first place.

              Billy didn’t bother to wait for the rubric to get to him before asking Harrington, “So, what the hell is going on? I wasn’t paying attention.”

              “Shocker,” Harrington mumbled, probably not intending for Billy to hear him.

              “Something you want to say to me, Harrington?” Billy asked, not really meaning it, but he way that Harrington suddenly froze again and looked terrified made him feel bad. “Jesus, I was just joking with you. Lighten the fuck up, Harrington, and just tell me why we’re partnered together.”

              “Apparently, it’s some sort of project to help us understand how not to judge a book by its cover or something,” Harrington said. “We have to get to know the other person through a series of questions that we come up with and we have to hang out at least twice outside of class. When we’re done, we have to make some sort of presentation about it.”

              Billy rolled his eyes. “Shit, this is a fucking stupid project. If I knew that all senior classes were this easy, I would have just skipped junior year.”

              A stack of papers suddenly fell in front of him and Billy looked down to see the rubric. He quickly took one and passed the rest to Harrington without bothering to really look at one. Once Harrington had passed the papers, Billy asked, “So, your parents still gone? Cause I figured that since we can’t go to my house, we can just get this over with at yours.”

              Steve quickly shook his head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

              Billy shrugged, trying not to notice the way that Harrington quickly rejected the idea of being alone with him. “Fine, whatever. You taking your brats to the arcade after school?”

              “Yeah, right at 3:30,” Harrington said and Billy nodded. The bell rang again and kids were quickly packing up, Billy doing the same.

              “Meet me at the diner that we ate at before after you dropped them off,” Billy said and he walked out of the room.

              He could only hope that Harrington actually showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, one more chapter down, who knows how many more.  
> I really struggled to right this one and I don't know why, but I don't really like it. Hopefully it's good enough.
> 
> I have a couple more weeks of college left and I'm swamped with work, so I don't know how often I'll be able to update during that time, but I will try.
> 
> And of course, thanks for the comments and kudos, I do appreciate them.


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